ABSTRACT
This chapter examines local democracy in the Montreal context since the municipal reform. The merger option retained for Montreal was based on the administrative and territorial consolidation of 28 municipalities of the Island of Montreal. The City of Montreal is structured by three political authorities: the municipal council, the executive committee and lastly, the borough councils. The creation of borough councils seems to have been well received by the citizens of the former City of Montreal who, for the first time in the history of their city, enjoy local management. The municipal reform in Montreal has thus had different impacts depending on the various sectors of the island. Montrealers and, in particular, community organisation activists engaged in urban issues had been complaining for a number of years that the municipality was suffering from a serious democratic deficit. In Toronto, opposition to the merger project came from citizens of both the former Toronto central city and the suburban municipalities.
