The Reformer and the Machine: Montreal Civic Politics from Raymond Préfontaine to Médéric Martin
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Author/collaborator |
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Title |
The Reformer and the Machine: Montreal Civic Politics from Raymond Préfontaine to Médéric Martin
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Abstract |
The author examines Montreal's turn-of-the-twentieth-century municipal reform movement that arose out of a desire of the city's richer wards to control municipal politics. He argues that the first phase of the reform movement was to break the political machine that relegated most public works to the poorer wards. Calling for an end to extravagance and dishonesty, the reform movement took on a party form. The second phase of the reform movement was its anti-trust period, as it fought against the gas, electricity and tramway companies' monopoly over these utilities. The third phase focused on ward politics. The movement launched a Royal Commission to prove that Montreal was in the hands of a corrupt administration, which resulted in the reformers winning complete electoral victory. However, once in power, the reformers were unwilling to serve the interests of the city's majority working class population and, by 1914, were defeated. Includes accounts of the roles played by English-speaking Montreal businessmen, newspapers, and the Board of Trade.
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Publication |
Journal of Canadian Studies/Revue d'études canadiennes
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Volume |
Vol. 13
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Issue |
no. 2
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Pages |
16-26
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Date |
Summer 1978
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Language |
en
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Citation |
Gauvin, Michel. “The Reformer and the Machine: Montreal Civic Politics from Raymond Préfontaine to Médéric Martin.” Journal of Canadian Studies/Revue d’études canadiennes Vol. 13, no. 2 (Summer 1978): 16–26.
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