Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles
is a borough of the City of
Montreal
, Quebec
.
Geography
The
borough is located at the eastern tip of the Island of
Montreal
. It is composed of the districts of Rivière-des-Prairies
and Pointe-aux-Trembles
, which were part of the City of Montreal prior to
the 2002 municipal mergers.
From
January 1, 2002 to January 1, 2006, the borough included the town
of Montreal
East
, which has now demerged from Montreal.
The borough's name lists the two neighbourhoods according to their
date of annexation to Montreal (Rivière-des-Prairies joined in 1963
and Pointe-aux-Trembles in 1982). It has a population of
102,457.
Rivière-des-Prairies is mainly composed of suburbs, as well as
multiple forested areas and fields.
The Saint Lawrence River
flows at the southerly border of Montreal, while
the Rivière des Prairies
River forms Montreal Island's northerly boundary with
Laval.
Demographics
The Rivière-des-Prairies part of the borough is known for its high
concentration of Italians in most of the neighborhoods, and
Haitians in the others. On July 9, 2006, after Italy won the 2006
FIFA World Cup, Maurice Duplessis Boulevard was closed to traffic
due to the great number of fans celebrating in the street.
Pointe-aux-Trembles remains predominantly French-Canadian and
blue-collar.
Rivière-des-Prairies is for the most part federalist and Liberal,
while Pointe-aux-Trembles is sovereigntist and has consistently
voted for the Parti and Bloc Québécois over the last fifteen
years.
These linguistic, political and demographic differences, coupled
with geographical isolation, have led to a tense climate of
opposition between Rivière-des-Prairies and Pointe-aux-Trembles,
exacerbated by the recent decision to build a new borough hall on a
park in a distant section of RDP.
Politics
The borough is divided into three districts -- La
Pointe-aux-Prairies, Pointe-aux-Trembles and Rivière-des-Prairies
-- and has seven elected representatives since the November 2005
municipal election: one borough mayor, three city councillors, and
three borough councillors.
Borough council
As of the November 1, 2009
Montreal municipal
election, the current borough council consists of the following
councillors:
Previous councils
The borough's elected officials from January 1, 2006 to October 31,
2009 were:
- Borough mayor: Cosmo Maciocia (political affiliation: Union
Montreal)
- City councillor, Rivière-des-Prairies district: Joe Magri
(Union Montreal)
- Borough councillor, Rivière-des-Prairies district: Maria
Calderone (Union Montreal)
- City councillor, La Pointe-aux-Prairies: Nicolas Montmorency
(Vision Montreal (until November 2006) / independent (November 2006
to present))
- Borough councillor, La Pointe-aux-Prairies: Joseph (Joe) Di
Pietro (Vision Montreal (until January 2008) / Union Montreal
(January 2008 to present))
- City councillor, Pointe-aux-Trembles: André Bélisle (Vision
Montreal until November 2006 / independent from November 2006 to
September 3, 2008 / Union Montreal since September 3, 2008)
- Borough councillor, Pointe-aux-Trembles: Suzanne Décarie
(Vision Montreal)
On Wednesday, November 22, 2006, councillor Montmorency announced
he was leaving Vision Montreal to sit as an independent. On Monday,
November 27, Vision Montreal announced it was kicking councillor
Bélisle out of its ranks due to Bélisle's allegedly stating his
intention to leave the party.
From November 2001 to November 2005, the borough was divided into
four districts and their representatives were:
- Marc-Aurèle-Fortin district: Cosmo Maciocia (Montreal Island
Citizens Union)
- Rivière-des-Prairies district: Michel Plante (Vision Montreal
(until March 2005)/ Montreal Island Citizens Union (March 2005 to
election day))
- Pointe-aux-Trembles district: Marius Minier (Vision Montreal
(until November 2001) / independent (November 2001 to December
2003) / Montreal Island Citizens Union (December 2003 to summer
2005) / Team Ville Marie (Fall 2005 to election day))
- Bout-de-l'Île district: Colette Paul (Vision Montreal (until
Nov. 2001) / independent (Nov. 2001 to summer 2005) / Vision
Montreal (summer 2005 to election day))
Additional information
- From 2002 to 2006, borough headquarters were located in
Montreal East's town hall, which benefitted from a $5 million
expansion voted in 2003 and completed in September 2005. Since the
town's demerger, the borough's services have been relocated in both
Rivière-des-Prairies and Pointe-aux-Trembles, but a recent proposal
to build a new borough hall next to the planned
Rivière-des-Prairies Maison de la Culture (cultural centre) has
been adopted despite the ire of the Pointe-aux-Trembles
councillors.
- The borough is covered by three weekly newspapers, two in
French ("L'Avenir de l'Est" in Pointe-aux-Trembles and
"L'Informateur" in Rivière-des-Prairies) and one in English ("The
East End Suburban", which covers only Rivière-des-Prairies).
See also
External links
Wikis
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