Union Montreal () is an inactive
municipal political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...
in
Montreal
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
,
Quebec
Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
. It was the governing party in the city from 2001, when it won its first election under mayor
Gérald Tremblay, until 2012. The party remained the largest single party caucus in the city government until the
2013 election although it lost its majority in November 2012 due to a number of councillors quitting the party to sit as
independents in the wake of Tremblay's resignation.
["Chaos and politicking at city hall as Union Montreal loses majority"]
CTV News, November 14, 2012. Since 2013, it has no longer been politically active.
Origins
Union Montreal was originally established as the ''Montreal Island Citizens Union'' (''MICU'', ) in the aftermath of the
province-wide municipal merger of 2001 and not long before the municipal election of that same year. It was the product of a merger between the
Montreal Citizens' Movement (RCM) and a group of suburban politicians who backed Gérald Tremblay for mayor.
Electoral performance
Tremblay was the party's first mayoral candidate and was elected with 49% of the vote over incumbent
Pierre Bourque. He was re-elected in 2005 with 54% of the vote against the same candidate, and again in 2009 over
Vision Montreal's
Louise Harel and
Projet Montreal's
Richard Bergeron.
Change of name
In May 2007, Tremblay announced that the party would take its current name: Union Montreal. He also unveiled a new party logo. Instead of the yellow and blue logo used by the party from 2001 to 2007, a new multicolored symbol that represents Montreal's diversity would take place. The new label consisted of five vertical stripes (blue, green, brown, yellow and pink), each bearing one of the letters of the word ''UNION''.
Tremblay crisis
During a hearing at the
Charbonneau Commission on October 1, 2012, construction industry contractor Lino Zambito alleged that Union Montreal received a sum equivalent to three per cent of the value of
sewerage rehabilitation contracts awarded by the City of Montreal to a
mafia-linked
cartel.
On October 30, 2012, a former Union Montreal party organizer alleged that Mayor Tremblay was involved in illegal financing with the mafia. He claimed that Tremblay knew of these dubious financial practices and did not want to be made aware of them.
These statements caused a series of negative reactions from the spokespeople of all the provincial political parties.
Following the allegations, Tremblay announced that he would be taking a few days off. On November 5, 2012, Tremblay announced that he was resigning as mayor, and was leaving politics.
Following his resignation, Union Montreal councillors
Frantz Benjamin,
Michael Applebaum,
Lionel Perez,
Susan Clarke,
Marvin Rotrand,
Christian Dubois,
Daniel Bélanger,
Ginette Marotte,
Alain Tassé and
Frank Venneri all left the party to sit as independents.
Seven more city and borough councillors resigned in February 2013, including the entire borough council of
Anjou.
The party selected
Richard Deschamps as its new candidate for
Mayor of Montreal in the council vote on November 16.
["Michael Applebaum elected mayor of Montreal"]
CTV News, November 16, 2012. However, Deschamps was defeated 31 to 29 by Applebaum,
who pledged to run a non-partisan
coalition council in which members of all parties, as well as the bloc of independents, would share seats on the
Montreal Executive Committee.
However, Applebaum was arrested in April 2013
["Michael Applebaum released from police custody after being arrested this morning"]
CBC Montreal, June 17, 2013 and charged with 14 counts including fraud and breach of trust.
["Quatorze chefs d'accusation contre Michael Applebaum"]
'' La Presse'', June 17, 2013 Applebaum stepped down the following day
["Michael Applebaum démissionne" Canoe, June 18, 2013] and was succeeded by another temporary mayor that was not from Union Montreal.
On May 9, 2013, the party declared its intention to apply for dissolution, with the remaining members becoming independents. In the runup to the
2013 municipal election campaign, several of its former members rallied around the candidacy of
Denis Coderre,
"Denis Coderre unveils eight more candidates for his party"
'' The Gazette'', June 17, 2013. who also attracted support from former Vision Montréal councillors and others. Coderre became mayor in November 2013.
The aftermath
Union Montreal's initial plan to apply for dissolution was withdrawn by September 2013, as it decided to stay in existence until the resolution of the Charbonneau commission.["Union Montréal conteste sa dissolution"]
TVA, September 29, 2013 Quebec's director general of elections proceeded with the dissolution process in September 2013["Le DGEQ force la dissolution d'Union Montréal"]
'' La Presse'', September 25, 2013 because the party had neither named a new chief nor provided a list of its members, both of which are mandatory to maintain party status.["Union Montréal sur le point de perdre son statut de parti politique"]
Radio-Canada, September 25, 2013
In November 2013, a Quebec appeals court ruled that the party could continue to exist.["Union Montréal obtient un sursis"]
'' Le Devoir'', November 26, 2013 The decision was reiterated in February 2015 in Quebec Superior Court.["Le parti Union Montréal ressuscite"]
'' Le Devoir'', February 11, 2015 The party is no longer active politically.
Mayoral candidates
Victories are indicated in bold.
References
External links
Union Montreal official website
{{Montreal political parties
Municipal political parties in Montreal
Political parties established in 2001
Political parties disestablished in 2013
Defunct political parties in Canada