Société du Havre de Montréal (SHM) was a publicly funded, non-profit business in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

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. It was created in 2002 to oversee the redevelopment of Montreal's harbourfront via the reconstruction of the

Bonaventure Expressway Autoroute 10 (A-10) is an Autoroute of Quebec in Canada that links greater Montreal to key population centres in Montérégie and Estrie, including Brossard, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Granby, and Sherbrooke. The A-10 also provides access to p ...

. In January 2013, the city of Montreal announced that it would take over the SHM's responsibilities, and it was completed by the end of April.

History

The SHM was established in 2002 to design a plan for the redevelopment of Montreal's harbourfront. The organization initially received funding from the municipal, Quebec provincial, and Canadian federal governments. In 2007, it presented a final report entitled ''Vision 2025''; the provincial and federal governments withdrew their funding shortly thereafter. The SHM was criticized by opposition municipal parties, which accused it of financial mismanagement, unaccountability, and having a conflict-of-interest situation in its leadership. City councillor

Véronique Fournier Véronique Fournier served on the Montreal city council, representing Saint-Henri–La Petite-Bourgogne–Pointe-Saint-Charles as a member of Vision Montreal. Early life and career Véronique Fournier has taught democratic practices for community ...

said in 2013, "We always believed the SHM was a recipe for disaster. Because it's a private corporation, it isn't bound to the same kind of access to information laws as the city. So while I'm not saying there was ever anything criminal happening at the SHM, the ingredients were definitely there." Montreal's auditor-general, Jacques Bergeron, indicated that it was almost impossible to ascertain the real costs of the SHM's studies and consultations in the absence of a reliable paper trail. Montreal mayor

Michael Applebaum Michael Mark Applebaum (born February 10, 1963) is a Canadian former politician who served as interim Mayor of Montreal between his appointment by the city council on November 16, 2012, and his resignation on June 18, 2013. He was the first angl ...

announced on January 24, 2013 that the city of Montreal would take over responsibility for the Bonaventure Expressway from the SHM, citing the need for transparency. The SHM would then be dismantled by April 30.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Societe du Havre de Montreal Municipal government of Montreal