Montréal Écologique (MÉ) (English: Ecology Montreal) was a municipal political party that existed from 1990 to 1994 in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. The party's ideas were influenced by political theorist Murray Bookchin's idea of

libertarian municipalism Murray Bookchin (January 14, 1921 – July 30, 2006) was an American social theorist, author, orator, historian, and political philosopher. A pioneer in the environmental movement, Bookchin formulated and developed the theory of social ec ...

Origins

The party that eventually became Ecology Montreal was started in 1989 through a series of public meetings organized by Dimitri Roussopoulos, a veteran political organizer and publisher in Montreal. Roussopoulos indicated that his group was intended to become Montreal's first municipal

Green party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

and would make environmental issues its top priority. Ecology Montreal was formally registered with city hall in April 1990. The party was established at about the same time as the Democratic Coalition of Montreal, a left-wing breakaway group from the governing

Montreal Citizens' Movement The Montreal Citizens' Movement (MCM, french: Rassemblement des citoyens et des citoyennes de Montréal or RCM) was a municipal political party in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It existed from 1973 to 2001. Origins The Montreal Citizens' Movement ...

(MCM). Roussopoulos held talks with Democratic Coalition leaders on inter-party co-operation in late 1989, although no agreement was reached at that time. In October 1990, the parties signed a "non-aggression pact," pledging not to run against one another in most of the city's council wards in the upcoming election. As a result of the pact, Ecology Montreal did not field a candidate for mayor.

1990 election

Ecology Montreal's platform for the 1990 municipal election included calls for reducing automobile use, increasing green space, a full recycling program,

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

, and a toll for cars entering the Island of Montreal with fewer than three people. During the election, Roussopoulos said that Montreal should reduce its garbage output by seventy per cent. Some party members also pledged to set up a

food bank A food bank is a non-profit, charitable organization that distributes food to those who have difficulty purchasing enough to avoid hunger, usually through intermediaries like food pantries and soup kitchens. Some food banks distribute food direct ...

after the election, expressing surprise at the degree of poverty in the city. Ecology Montreal ran twenty-one candidates in the 1990 election, none of whom were elected. Roussopoulos finished second to an MCM candidate in the Jeanne-Mance ward.

Merger

Roussopoulos remained as leader of Ecology Montreal until August 1994, when the party was formally merged with the Democratic Coalition. Yolande Cohen became leader of the resulting Democratic Coalition-Ecology Montreal party for the 1994 election. Before the merger, the party had attempted to form "Alliance '94", a political alliance with two other leftist city councillors. The merged party won two seats on council, both of whom were former members of the Democratic Coalition. These councillors used the name of the merged party until shortly before the 1998 election, when the parties dissolved their merger.Peggy Curran, "Something off the top: Democratic Coalition eschews mayoral race," ''Montreal Gazette'', 20 October 1998, A3. Ecology Montreal does not appear to have re-surfaced as a separate organization after this time.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Montreal Ecologique Municipal political parties in Montreal Municipal green political parties in Canada