Quebec and Montreal Join Municipalities Federation

Quebec City (Quebec) September 27, 2014 – Founded over 70 years ago, the Fédération québécoise des municipalités (Quebec Municipalities Federation or FQM) had never counted the province’s two largest municipalities among their members until today. In what mayors of both cities and the FQM president are calling a historical decision, the two metropolitan regions will now have “associate memberships” to the FQM.

The move likely comes as part of ongoing pressure on a bill at the National Assembly to cut municipal employee benefits packages, in which Québec and Montréal are perceived as being alone in pushing for reform and to which small municipalities are mostly indifferent. It is also worth noting that as “associate members”, neither Québec nor Montréal’s representatives will be entitled to vote on the matters being discussed. They will, however, be available for consultation.

The news was announced yesterday morning via a tweet by Montréal mayor and prolific social media user Denis Coderre, as he was on his way to meet with Québec mayor Régis Labeaume to finalise the agreement.