DM  And Ste-Marthe survive...
 14-12-2003 7:32 The results are in !

57% NO  -   43% Yes
Ste-Marthe-sur-le-lac results: 60% NO - 40% yes

As one poster put it: La Fusion - Forget it!

Here is what Mr. Forget and his team should learn from this exercise:
--> Money isn't everything - 57% (and 60%) believe that quality of life and a sense of identity and community is priceless. The threat of increased taxes or the promise of lower taxes does not buy votes.
--> Don't rush things -  This referendum was announced out of the blue and 45 days later we were supposed to make a decision. This is way too fast to make an irreversible decision.
--> Never underestimate the other side-  An article in La Presse dated early November stated that the Yes side didn't think there was an organized No side.
--> Don't keep secrets - They had been working on this since early in the year, if not earlier. If they had announced it back then and said that the vote would be at the end of the year, people may have come around.
--> The words 'Trust me!' should never be used- In the focus group and some information sessions, the mayor said to Trust me or Trust us many times. That made me start feeling uneasy because I have heard that line many times.
--> Be careful when stretching the truth - The reason for trying to rush this through was the supposed deadline of the government subsidy for mergers. This was proven not true and probably influenced the referendum vote.
--> Don't turn issues like this into political issues. - I personally felt that this was treated as a purely political issue when it really was a community issue.
--> Stop spending our money foolishly - This referendum and the Yes Campaign will cost both communities a lot of money. I am sure we will be paying for it soon.
--> Finally don't treat our neighbours as foolish people who can't run a city.  Yes, Ste-Marthe has financial problems and their urban planning needs a little work but they are are smart as everyone else. That's why they voted 60% against the merger. Why would you want to share profit with a city that cannot expand. We have to get used to run our city efficiently without the need for an increased tax base.


Nothanks
I braved the snowstorm to find out the results. This picture was taken at 7:25pm on Blvd du Lac.

Here are my humble opinions on the merger <
06-12-2003
December 7, 2003
I think I have finally come to a decision on this the day of the advance polling. I am writing this not to influence you in any way but as a mere tool to get my thoughts on virtual paper. On the December 14, I will be voting NO. Here is why...

Firstly, forget the political statements I had made in my original rant (below), My decisions does not rest on any separatist issues and the fact that Ste-Marthe is more PQ than 2mo.

I think that eventually it would be in Two Mountains' interest to merge and the only logical choice is to the west because of our existing shared services. This particular attempt is rushed and I believe that it was done like that so that the NO side would not have time to organize a campaign. I don't agree with the people who say if we don't do it, it will be St-Eustache that will take over Two-Mountains. That is crap and were it to come up, a referendum would have to be held and we would probably vote NO. The rush is supposedly because of government subsidy that 'could' run out if we don't act now. That could happen but there is no time limit for this subsidy.

What I really don't like is the scare tactics revolving around increase taxes and the statement that the tax rate will go from 1.52 to 1.39. The thing that is not being told is that the evalution will be going up to probably make your taxes the same as before. They are saying that the 2004 tax bill will be at least $100 less if we do it now. Yet another reason to rush the issue.

Don't get me wrong, I like Benoit and his respect for the bilingualism nature of his little town. I just think there is something behind this. My big worry is that Ben will be pouting for the next 22 months of his reign if he doesn't get his way and he may use this to raise the taxes just to say I told you so. That should not happen because they all said that our current surplus could be used to curb any tax increase for 4 or 5 years.

I thought of voting yes at one point thinking that SMsll would vote NO. This way our mayor could claim victory yet there would be no merger. Since I don't know how they are selling this in Ste-Marthe, I couldn't count on the NO there.

If I was from Ste-Marthe and I attended one of our mayors information sessions, I would have to vote no. Why, because he says that the only way we can get more money for Two Mountains is to expand the current housing in Ste-Marthe. Why wouldn't a Ste-Marthe person say: Hey, why should I share that money when I could keep it all for the 8000 people that live here. The mayor almost says that SMsll is too dumb to handle their new housing and that money is so badly managed there that they almost gone bankrupt twice. We must save Ste-Marthe as we are much better at urban planning and we could do a much better job. Now if they are telling St-Martians that there taxes will go down, they may bite because they are really paying high taxes.

Bottom line - I like Two Mountains as my city and I like Ste-Marthe as my neighbour. I like St-Eustache not getting into our affairs. I am voting NO because I believe we will have another chance one day (maybe soon) but this one came way too fast to really analyse things and make the right decision for everyone.

Canada: Mon pays. Quebec: mon amours. Deux-Montagnes: Ma ville (leave it alone)   ,,, for now!
Original article from November 19, 2003.
This homepage was originally intended to give news about our lovely town. It has since evolved, or should I say deteriorated, into a home page about me and the groups I associate with. Well last night, I was personally invited by the mayor (Benoit Forget) to a small meeting (focus (pronounced f*ck us) group as they called it) to discuss the upcoming referendum on the merger of Deux-Montagnes and Ste-Marthe-sur-le-Lac. Why me? I asked. Apparently, I am an influential force in the (English) community and they don't even know about this website. About 15 of the 20 invitees showed up to hear what Benoit had to say to this all English audience made up of mostly anglo elders including Mike Carpini and Garold Nixon.

We listened and he presented us with the gloomy fact that in the next 5 years there will be less than 10 housing starts per year. With a 3% increase in the budget, the money would have to come from taxpayers. In the last 10 years, new housing (new property taxes) has covered the increases in budgets. Now that 2 Mountains has expanded to use up all the land and there is only Mike McKeown's land left to develop, there is no other option than to rape our neighbour to the west.

Frankly, when I first heard about this merger (often referred to as a marriage by our Honourable mayor), I was completely against it. We received notice at the end of October that the vote was on December 14 and as Mike C. expressed that the whole thing seems to be a little rushed. The reason for the rush is that Quebec is waving a $750,000 carrot to help with the merger. Apparently, they, the two counsels, have been working on this since February. All but two counsellors agree. One is campaigning against it. Unfortunately, he is the Pequiste who wants us to merge with St-Eustache. If that happens, hello West Island for me. I am still unsure of which way I will vote and here is why.

Firstly, the emphasis is being put on not raising taxes as it has been done in the last 10-12 years. I find this is a scare tactic that is being used to influence older fixed income taxpayers (read BG) who feel they can't afford the extra money. I guess that Hydro-Quebec is not really thinking of these guys when they announced the two 3% increases in electricity for 2004. Fact of life: Things go up in price and it is great that in the last 10 years our tax bill has stayed the same but how realistic is it to expect the same trend forever
Secondly, the argument is that there is plenty of room in SMsll to increase the tax base. That may be true but SMsll is way behind TwoMo. There is not one sidewalk in all of SMsll. Will this extra money be used to make improvements in SMsll. Even if Ste-Marthe puts in sidewalks, I'm not going to go for walks there. I live in Two Mountains and I made a choice many years ago to stay here. I am proud of our town and its anglo community. SMsll has 8% anglo that are probably in favour of the merge cause they will finally get some English services. Last election, Ste-Marthe had a higher percentage of PQ voters than Jonquiere, do I really want to be part of that gang.

I am going to continue this rant later I am out of time. For now visit this website for the Yes side of the Two Mountains referendum. Don't forget there will be two referenda, one in ToMo and one in SMsll. If either comes up NO then the merger is off.

Here's the link: http://www.regroupementdmsm.com/en/index.php

Come back later I will have more to say because right now I still am not sure which way I am leaning......
By the way the popular choice for the name is on top: DM sll

Here is one of the reasons I am not sure of this merger. Of the 2 mayors and 12 counsellors only 2 counsellors are against the Yes side. Both are independents. In 22 months, the new city would have 1 mayor and 8 counsellors. This means 5 of those 14 people no longer have a seat. Why then is everyone for it? Why is the Ste-Marthe leadership for it? What's in it for them. Ste-Marthe might have a website for the OUI side but I doubt that it is in English.

If you live in ToMo, you'll soon get your pamphlet. Has anyone seen the Ste-Marthe version?