“That the initiative as to loans and franchises shall be with the
Board of Commissioners, subject to approval by the City Council,
who could amend or reject by a two-thirds majority.
“That the general legislative power and the making of by-laws
shall be with the City Council, but the Board of Commissioners
shall have all executive powers.
“That if any change in the composition of the City Council is
decided upon, it would best be obtained by dividing the city into
five wards (each to elect three aldermen), such division to be
made equitably in proportion to population, assessed value and
possible growth.
“Amendments to the City Charter Bill, based upon the foregoing,
were presented to the Private Bills Committee at Quebec by the
Citizens Association, the Board of Trade and other leading
associations resulted in their adoption, with a slight change
and thus the Board of Commissioners is now in possession of the
powers necessary for the proper discharge of its duties.”
It is to be noted that, by a strange oversight of the framers
of the amended charter, the following important clause in the
original charter for the Board of Control was omitted: “To make
all recommendations involving the expenditure of money. No
recommendation involving the expenditure of money, and affecting
in any manner whatever the finances of the city shall be adopted
by the Council without it having been previously submitted to the
Board of Commissioners and approved by them.” There was, however,
added the power to conclude without tender, urgent purchase of
materials not exceeding the value of $2,500.
The elections of 1912, in which the four controllers, who had
completed their term of four years, did not compete, resulted
in the election of Mr. L.A. Lavallée, K.C., as the next mayor.
Among the new aldermen elected were several of those who had
been scored in Judge Cannon’s report, so short-lived is a city’s
remembrance. During the next two years the position of the Board
of Control was further jeopardized by organized opposition from
the part of the council, but the evident value of the system
still retained the favour of the people.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account