Problems and Purpose
In 2005, the city pledged to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases emitted to 30% of its 1990 levels by 2030. By 2012, however, only a 6% reduction had been achieved.[1] While this lack of reduction was not a source of political pressure for the Mayor, it is an issue that a segment of Montréal citizens care deeply about.
Currently, fossil fuels account for 51% of the energy consumed by Montreal.[2] In order the reduce greenhouse gas emissions in larger quantities and more rapidly, citizens initiated public consultations to brainstorm strategies that could be carried out at the city level. In the words of Luc Doray, Montreal’s Office of Public Consultation’s (OCPM) spokesperson, “It’s easy to say we must reduce the consumption of fossil fuels. The main challenge is to identify realistic, practical and reliable ways to do that.”[3]
The set of public consultations in 2015 took place in the larger context of growing global action to prevent further carbon emissions and mitigate the effects of climate change. In March of 2015, Montréal residents petitioned for community meetings to be held regarding the city’s dependence on fossil fuels, invoking the city’s public consultation laws. Of the city’s 1.9 million residents, over 15,000 signatures were collected. The petition was accepted by the city clerk’s office and, on June 30, the mayor announced the upcoming events. The recommendations of the first set of public meetings were collected in time for Montreal’s mayor, Denis Coderre, to bring to the 2015 UN COP21 climate conference in Paris, where they were presented to the conference.[4] In total, over 3,500 people and organizations taking part. Developed from those discussions, Montreal’s public consultation office published a report detailing 15 policy proposals that the city could implement to reduce its use of fossil fuels.
History
Montréal has a 30-year history of public consultations. Beginning in the 1980’s, the Bureau de consultation de Montréal was established to oversee meetings regarding issues submitted by Montréal authorities. In general, these issues related to redevelopment of the city. However, many constituents felt that this committee was too closely linked to office holders. By 1994, it had been disbanded in favor of standing committee within the city council.[5]
In 2000, after continued public mistrust in the representativeness in government, the city government brought together a 5-person group, the Tremblay commission, to report on this disconnect. The Office de consultation publique was the commission’s primary recommendation.[6] See Participedia entry for the Office de consultation publique de Montréal for more information.
Meanwhile, concerns about climate change and environmental destruction began to take shape within city policy. In 2005, the city pledged to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases emitted to 30% of its 1990 levels by 2030. By 2012, however, only a 6% reduction had been achieved.[7]
Section 2.7.17.2 of the city’s 2014 master plan, furthermore, is an action plan for “reduc[ing] air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions.” Included in the plan are calls for a denser urban environment, investments in public transportation and bikeways, and purchasing electric vehicles for the municipal fleet.[8]
Originating Entities and Funding
Using Montréal’s “right to initiative” law, a “group of citizens” requested that the city conduct a series of public consultations regarding steps it could take to reduce its fossil fuel dependency.[9]
Once enough petition signatures had been collected, the OCPM, an office within the Montréal city government, designed the consultation process. The OCPM utilized government money, community resources, and the participation of some companies—such as the Cap Collective, which helped create the online consultation site—to complete this work.[10]
Participant Recruitment and Selection
With the exception of the creative marathon, during which attendees of Startup Weekend Montréal worked together in multi-sector groupings to think of creative solutions to reducing fossil fuel usage, all events and discussions were open to the public. This means that participants self-selected into the process, volunteering their time and energies. To ensure proper time, online registration was required for a chance to speak at the final public hearing.
Methods and Tools Used
The process of public consultation between 2015 and 2016 took various forms - some larger events scheduled by the city, some smaller ones that were hosted in people’s homes at their convenience. They were held in a variety of areas and formats: community meetings, self-organized workshops, a green hack-a-thon, online discussion boards, and a final public hearing.
Deliberation, Decisions, and Public Interaction
Following submission of a public petition to the City of Montréal in the spring of 2015, the mayor instructed public officials to initiate a series of public consultations on how to reduce the city’s fossil fuel usage. On October 29, 2015, the OCMP hosted an informational session and opened the online discussion boards to solicit public feedback. The discussion boards, which were written about in local media coverage, allowed the public, as well as advocacy organizations, to propose ideas on how to reduce fossil fuel usage.[11] These proposals were then shared publically, and fellow residents were able to vote on proposals, provide counter arguments, and network with those who shared similar views since all posting occurred through identity-verified accounts.
In early November 2015, the OCMP provided materials for community members to begin hosting their own workshops. These meetings took place over the course of a week, from November 14-20. Hosts were required to register through the OCMP website in order to receive the material necessary to provide feedback into the consultation process. But, beyond that organizational guideline, residents could host these meetings with friends, colleagues, or invite others through online postings.
On November 21, the OCMP hosted its own community workshop in a public office building. This meeting took the same format as the individually organized workshops, only held on a larger scale.[12]
The results of these meetings were provided to Mayor Coderre prior to his attendance of the UN COP21 in Paris.
Two months later, at the beginning of February, 2016, the consultation process restarted. The mayor recounted the outcomes and vision created during the Paris summit.[13] Following this talk, the OCMP, in collaboration with Startup Weekend Montreal, hosted a “creative marathon.”[14] during which “innovators” drawn from the Startup Weekend’s attendees in the Montréal community were placed in multi-disciplinary teams to brainstorm possible solutions to reduce fossil fuel consumption.[15]
Finally, on March 8, the OCMP hosting a public hearing where citizens could express their views before members of the OCMP members responsible for writing the recommendations report.
In total, the meetings and public discussion “resulted in 92 briefs, more than 50 activities, almost 500 solution paths, and some 20 projects.”[16]
Influence, Outcomes, and Effects
After the public consultation on fossil fuel reduction, the OCMP produced a report listing 15 recommendations:
- The Ville de Montréal should develop a culture of transparency, data collection and information;
- Reducing the attractiveness of individual cars constitutes one of the first tasks on which the City must focus, especially in central areas;
- The Ville de Montréal should better think out its development, halt urban spread, support mixed uses and plan whole, dense and citizen- friendly neighborhoods;
- Montréal should exert its influence with the Québec Government to unlock funds, notably via the Fonds vert, in order to prioritize the improvement of the bus and metro service offering;
- Montréal should become a role model and breathe new life into the community by introducing solutions within city government;
- The commission recommends that Montréal intensify its efforts to at least attain its objective of a 5% modal shift towards public transit in 2020;
- Montréal should foster and develop the modal aspect of foot and bicycle travel;
- Montréal should forbid the circulation of heavy vehicles and delivery trucks on city streets at rush hours;
- Montréal should give a strong priority to pilot projects for three types of truck transportation: supply and shipping in industrial areas, delivery of consumer goods in commercial areas, and messenger and small parcel services;
- Montréal should adopt, without delay, high energy- efficiency and built-environment-quality standards, that it ensure that they are updated regularly, and that it intervene with the Québec Government to revise the provincial construction code;
- Montréal should adopt new regulation standards to increase the energy efficiency of buildings;
- Montréal should help small residential and commercial owners to renovate their buildings and improve their energy efficiency;
- Montréal should prioritize the recycling of empty buildings;
- Montréal should exert pressures on the Québec Government to review the rules pertaining to calls for tenders for municipal buildings. The rule of the lowest bidder must be changed in order to stimulate energy efficiency and innovation;
- Montréal should become more involved in educating Montréalers, notably through information, educational and awareness-raising campaigns focusing on behaviors that help to reduce fossil energy consumption on a daily basis.[17]
At the time of writing, only six months after the publication of the OCMP’s report, no action has been taken by the Montréal city council regarding these recommendations.
Analysis and Lessons Learned
In collaboration with Cap Collective, the OCPM created an easily replicable website for the public consultation that was crucial to the success of the consultations. People could suggest, provide feedback to, and vote on recommendations on the site. Because they had to log into identity-verified accounts to access the site, it also created somewhat of a social network that allowed residents and activist groups to correspond, in addition to providing an easy vehicle for adding one’s ideas. As a result, the site was successful at not only collecting ideas, but also connecting people and enabling follow up on future actions.
Endnotes
[1] Bruemmer, René. “Suggestions on How Montreal Can Reduce Its Carbon Footprint.” Montreal Gazette, January 3, 2016. http://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/suggestions-on-how-montreal-c....
[2] Ville de Montreal. “Reduced Dependence on Fossil Fuels in Montreal,” Reference Document, June 15, 2016.
[3] Olivier, Annabelle. “Montreal Hosts ‘green’ Hack-a-Thon - Montreal | Globalnews.ca,” March 20, 2016. http://globalnews.ca/news/2589090/montreal-hosts-green-hack-a-thon/.
[4] “Montreal Wants to Know How It Can Wean off Fossil Fuels.” CBC News. Accessed December 26, 2016. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-wants-to-know-how-it-can....
[5] Luc Doray. “10 Years of Public Consultation with Montrealers.” OCPM, November 2012.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Bruemmer, René. “Suggestions on How Montreal Can Reduce Its Carbon Footprint.” Montreal Gazette, January 3, 2016. http://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/suggestions-on-how-montreal-c....
[8] Montreal Master Plan. Section 2.7, Action 17.2. “Reduce air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions.” 2014.
[9] “Public Consultation on Reducing Our Dependency on Fossil Fuels | Montreal Climate Action.” Accessed December 26, 2016. http://actionclimatmtl.org/consultation-on-reducing-dependency-on-fossil....
[10] “Réduction de La Dépendance Aux Énergies Fossiles.” OCPM, December 15, 2015. http://ocpm.qc.ca/vertmtl.
[11] Meagher, John, “Montreal to Hold Public Consultation for COP 21 in Paris.” Montreal Gazette, November 17, 2015. http://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/montreal-to-hold-public-consu....
[12] Ibid.
[13] “Mayor Coderre Talks Fossil Fuels at Public Consultations | CTV Montreal News.” Accessed December 26, 2016. http://montreal.ctvnews.ca/mayor-coderre-talks-fossil-fuels-at-public-co....
[14] “Startup Weekend Montreal - Sustainable City.” Accessed January 17, 2017. http://www.up.co/communities/canada/montreal/startup-weekend/8459.
[15] Olivier, Annabelle. “Montreal Hosts ‘green’ Hack-a-Thon - Montreal | Globalnews.ca,” March 20, 2016. http://globalnews.ca/news/2589090/montreal-hosts-green-hack-a-thon/.
[16] “Report of the Public Consultation on Reducing Montréal’s Dependence on Fossil Fuels: An.” Accessed December 26, 2016. http://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/report-of-the-public-consultation-o....
[17] “Media Kit: Release of the Report on the Consultation on Reducing Montrealers’ Dependence on Fossil Energies.”
Secondary Sources
“Quebec Passes Fossil Fuel Bill That Opens Oil and Gas Reserves.” Montreal Gazette, December 10, 2016. http://montrealgazette.com/news/quebec/quebec-liberals-invoke-closure-to....
Bruemmer, René. “Suggestions on How Montreal Can Reduce Its Carbon Footprint.” Montreal Gazette, January 3, 2016. http://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/suggestions-on-how-montreal-c....
Floris Ensink. “Open Letter Public Consultation New Energy Policy 2016-2025.” Sierra Club Quebec, July 15, 2015.
Luc Doray. “10 Years of Public Consultation with Montrealers.” OCPM, November 2012.
“Mayor Coderre Talks Fossil Fuels at Public Consultations | CTV Montreal News.” Accessed December 26, 2016. http://montreal.ctvnews.ca/mayor-coderre-talks-fossil-fuels-at-public-co....
Meagher, John, Montreal Gazette More from John Meagher, Montreal Gazette Published on: November 16, 2015 | Last Updated: November 16, and 2015 9:09 Pm Est. “Montreal to Hold Public Consultation for COP 21 in Paris.” Montreal Gazette, November 17, 2015. http://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/montreal-to-hold-public-consu....
“Montreal Wants to Know How It Can Wean off Fossil Fuels.” CBC News. Accessed December 26, 2016. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-wants-to-know-how-it-can....
Nathan McDonnell. “CCMP Brief for the Montreal Public Consultation on Fossil Fuels.” CCMP, n.d. http://ocpm.qc.ca/sites/ocpm.qc.ca/files/pdf/P80/7.1.38_nathan_mcdonnel.pdf.
“New Report Suggests Ways to Curb Montreal’s Fossil Fuel Dependency | Montreal Gazette.” Accessed December 26, 2016. http://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/new-report-aims-to-curb-montr....
Olivier, Annabelle. “Montreal Hosts ‘green’ Hack-a-Thon - Montreal | Globalnews.ca,” March 20, 2016. http://globalnews.ca/news/2589090/montreal-hosts-green-hack-a-thon/.
“Public Consultation on Reducing Our Dependency on Fossil Fuels | Montreal Climate Action.” Accessed December 26, 2016. http://actionclimatmtl.org/consultation-on-reducing-dependency-on-fossil....
“Réduction de La Dépendance Aux Énergies Fossiles.” OCPM, December 15, 2015. http://ocpm.qc.ca/vertmtl.
“Report of the Public Consultation on Reducing Montréal’s Dependence on Fossil Fuels: An.” Accessed December 26, 2016. http://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/report-of-the-public-consultation-o....
External Links
Office de Consultion Publique de Montreal. “Media Kit: Release of the Report on the Consultation on Reducing Montrealers’ Dependence on Fossil Energies,” June 15, 2016. http://ocpm.qc.ca/sites/ocpm.qc.ca/files/pdf/P80/energies-fossiles-media...
“Taking Part in Public Consultation: Becoming Informed, Asking Questions and Expressing Opinions.” OCPM, 2005. http://ville.montreal.qc.ca/pls/portal/docs/PAGE/GUIDE_CONSULTATION_EN/M...
“The Follow-Up: A Montrealer’s Guide to What Happens After A Public Consultation.” OCPM, 2016. http://ocpm.qc.ca/sites/ocpm.qc.ca/files/pdf/publications/eng/Le%20guide...
Ville de Montreal. “Reduced Dependence on Fossil Fuels in Montreal,” June 15, 2016. http://ocpm.qc.ca/sites/ocpm.qc.ca/files/document_consultation/3.1_angla...
“Ville de Montréal - Official City Portal - Public Consultation.” Web page. Accessed December 26, 2016. http://ville.montreal.qc.ca/portal/page?_dad=portal&_pageid=6717,6040961....