Civic Party of Montreal - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Civic Party of Montreal was a municipal political party

Political party

A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...

in Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

, Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. It existed from 1960 to 1994. Throughout its history the Civic Party was dominated by the personality of its leader Jean Drapeau

Jean Drapeau

Jean Drapeau, was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as mayor of Montreal from 1954 to 1957 and 1960 to 1986...

Origins

It was established in September 1960 when 17 out of the 33 Civic Action League
Civic Action League
The Civic Action League was a municipal political party in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It existed from 1951 to 1961.-Origins:It was established in January 1951 by good government activists who were known as the Public Morality Committee...

Councillors, led by Jean Drapeau

Jean Drapeau

Jean Drapeau, was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as mayor of Montreal from 1954 to 1957 and 1960 to 1986...

, crossed the floor

Crossing the floor

In politics, crossing the floor has two meanings referring to a change of allegiance in a Westminster system parliament.The term originates from the British House of Commons, which is configured with the Government and Opposition facing each other on rows of benches...

to create a new party.

Achievements

The Civic Party won two thirds of the City Council

City council

A city council or town council is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area.-Australia & NZ:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council varies...

's seats as well as the office of Mayor in 1960 and remained in power until 1986. It is credited with:

the abolition of council seats reserved for home owners;
the construction of the Montreal Metro
Montreal Metro
The Montreal Metro is a rubber-tired metro system, and the main form of public transportation underground in the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada....

system and the Place des Arts
Place des Arts
right|frame|View of the Place des Arts esplanade. The Musée d'art contemporain is on the left; behind it is the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, with the Théâtre Maisonneuve on the rightPlace des Arts is a major performing arts centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada....

concert hall and
the advent of Expo 67
Expo 67
The 1967 International and Universal Exposition or Expo 67, as it was commonly known, was the general exhibition, Category One World's Fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, from April 27 to October 29, 1967. It is considered to be the most successful World's Fair of the 20th century, with the...

and the 1976 Summer Olympics
1976 Summer Olympics
The 1976 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event celebrated in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in 1976. Montreal was awarded the rights to the 1976 Games on May 12, 1970, at the 69th IOC Session in Amsterdam, over the bids of Moscow and...

.

It also helped bringing Major League Baseball to Montreal with the creation of the Montreal Expos

Montreal Expos

The Montreal Expos were a Major League Baseball team located in Montreal, Quebec from 1969 through 2004, holding the first MLB franchise awarded outside the United States. After the 2004 season, MLB moved the Expos to Washington, D.C. and renamed them the Nationals.Named after the Expo 67 World's...

Decline

In the 1980s the party steadily lost support to the Montreal Citizens' Movement (RCM)

Montreal Citizens' Movement

The Montreal Citizens' Movement was a municipal political party in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It existed from 1973 to 2001.-Origins:...

. It was voted out of office after Mayor

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

Jean Drapeau

Jean Drapeau, was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as mayor of Montreal from 1954 to 1957 and 1960 to 1986...

retired from politics. Only one of its candidates, Germain Prégent, was elected in 1986. Prégent sat as an Independent

Independent (politician)

In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...

by 1988. The party survived for a few years. It even managed to win a by-election

By-election

A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....

in 1989 and another one in 1992. It regained the status of Official Opposition by merging with the Parti Municipal (Municipal Party) in July 1992. However, it changed its name in 1994 when it became the Parti Montréalais (Montrealers’ Party), led by Jérôme Choquette

Jérôme Choquette

Jérôme Choquette is a lawyer and politician in Quebec, Canada.-Background:Choquette was born in Montreal, Quebec, and studied at the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce Academy and Collège Stanislas in Montreal, a Roman Catholic private school and the most elite institution of its kind in Quebec...

. Choquette ran for Mayor in 1994 and finished third with 13% of the vote. Only two of his candidates were elected to City Hall

City hall

In local government, a city hall, town hall or a municipal building or civic centre, is the chief administrative building of a city...

Mayoral Candidates

Election

Mayoral Candidate

Popular Vote for Mayor

Number of Councillors

1960