Summary#
Montréal city council unanimously adopted the bylaw amending the Règlement sur le Conseil du patrimoine de Montréal (02-136), along with amendments to the regulations governing the Comité Jacques-Viger and the Comité consultatif en reconnaissance. These amend three existing regulations; they do not create new bodies. City staff say the goal is clearer, more consistent and transparent governance.
- The three bodies will have a harmonized code of ethics. The rules also clarify the chair’s role and require an evaluation of the chair before a mandate is renewed.
- Former City employees and former members of any of the three bodies cannot become members of one of them for three years after their employment or membership ends.
- The amendments change rules on appointments, vacancies and members staying on until replaced or reappointed. The City will not have to appoint chairs or members from people who applied through a public call.
- The Comité Jacques-Viger and the Comité consultatif en reconnaissance may each have up to five substitute members and create working subcommittees. The Jacques-Viger committee will no longer have ranked first and second vice-chairs, or require public calls every three years.
- The Conseil du patrimoine de Montréal will have to give an opinion on an additional type of project under Québec’s Loi sur le patrimoine culturel. The Comité consultatif en reconnaissance may advise on proposed heritage identifications, and City administrative units beyond the Division du patrimoine may ask it for advice.
What it means for you#
- City advisory bodies and their members: The amended rules set common ethics and governance requirements, clarify the City clerk’s office’s administrative role, and regulate official partnerships and commitments. The Conseil du patrimoine’s logo will also be subject to rules.
- People seeking membership: Public calls for Jacques-Viger committee members will happen as needed, rather than automatically every three years. For the Comité consultatif en reconnaissance, council is not required to appoint its chair or members from candidates who applied through a public call.
- Residents and organizations: The bodies remain advisory; the decision does not give them power to make City decisions. The staff summary says their fundamental mandates are unchanged, though it also describes specific changes to which matters the heritage and recognition bodies may advise on.
- The staff summary lists public notice as a step before the bylaws take effect, but gives no date for that notice.
Money#
City staff report no financial impact; no detailed cost estimate is provided.
- The Service du greffe already provides administrative, human and financial resources to the three bodies. The materials give no separate estimate for the changes.
What is unclear#
- The materials do not identify the additional type of project that must go to the Conseil du patrimoine for an opinion.
- The full amended regulations are not supplied, so the exact wording and how the amendments compare with the current regulations cannot be verified from these materials.
- The materials do not set out the full code of ethics, how chair evaluations work, or how the new rules on partnerships and logo use will be applied.
Case for#
- A shared code of ethics and clearer roles could make the three bodies’ work more consistent and help the public understand their responsibilities.
- Allowing public calls when needed, adding substitutes and permitting working subcommittees could give the bodies more flexibility in organizing their work.
- Allowing more City units to seek advice from the recognition committee could make that advice available to a wider range of City projects.
Case against#
- Ending the automatic three-year public call for Jacques-Viger committee members, and allowing council to choose recognition committee members outside the public-call candidates, may reduce the certainty of an open recruitment process.
- The materials do not explain how chair evaluations will be assessed or how the ethics and partnership rules will be monitored.