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Intercultural Cities pp 281–313Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

The Case of Montréal: Intercultural City “Avant la Lettre”?

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Part of the book series: Global Diversities ((GLODIV))

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of the process by which Montreal came to be known as a “ville interculturelle” (intercultural city). The notions of process and context are essential to understanding this evolution. The process of intercultural policy in Montreal began at the institutional level in the late 1980s and culminated in 2011 with official recognition from the Council of Europe. This text examines the intercultural policy formation process in three periods, corresponding to successive municipal administrations, each of which contributed to intercultural policy in its own way. The international recognition of Montreal as an intercultural city and its participation in international networks reflects an ongoing commitment on the part of city administrations to ensure social cohesion so that citizens of all origins have a strong sense of belonging and civic identity.

Translated by Samuel Victor

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The Intercultural Cities programme, a joint action of the Council of Europe and the European Commission, was launched in 2008.

  2. 2.

    This does not mean, however, that relations between French settlers and the indigenous nations in the region were based on relations between equ als. On this topic see Denys Delâge, Bitter Feast: Amerindians and Europeans in Northeastern North America, Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1993.

  3. 3.

    We say regained control because Québec committed to the recruitment of immigrants in the nineteenth century in order to colonize its rural areas for the purpose of agricultural development.

  4. 4.

    Pivotal moments are identified as several major events in a life that lead to change (McLeod and Almazan 2004) and can create varying degrees of unpredictability. Abbott (2001) consider these moments to be transitions between sequences, as short changes that have certain repercussions that result in a necessary reorientation of trajectories. Sapin et al. (2007) agree by stating that they are rapid changes that follow expected and structured events. Pivotal moments bridge between different steps, or in other words, sequences of apparent inertia.

  5. 5.

    Enshrined in the most recent Charter of the City of Montréal.

  6. 6.

    Montréal comprises a quarter of the population of Québec, but it hosts almost three quarters of immigration to the province.

  7. 7.

    Mexico City was recognized as an intercultural city several months before Montréal, but does not rank as high as Montréal in the ICC Index.

  8. 8.

    At the international level, the Montréal Intercultural Bureau (BIM) collaborated in 1990 on events related to the visit of Winnie and Nelson Mandela to Montréal and the preparation of the third summit conference of the world’s major cities on sustainable development in an urban environment.

  9. 9.

    Including municipal policies and programmes in the field of economic integration, public service, education, leisure, culture and sports, public space, mediation, language, media and international politics.

  10. 10.

    According to the City of Montréal, the term “ethnic community” refers to a group of individuals who share a way of life that manifests itself through the combination of several common characteristics such as a common language, a common religion, a shared historical narrative, a gastronomy, a sense of humor, the experience of certain political regimes, the same traditional dress that is often prescribed by religion, the practice of certain sports, certain arts forms, etc. (Ville de Montréal 1988).

  11. 11.

    The institutional action plan for intercultural affairs has been the subject of an annual periodic statement (1994, 1995, 1996, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000).

  12. 12.

    Comité consultatif sur les relations interculturelles et interraciales (CRIMM, 1989–1994). Comité aviseur sur les relations interculturelles de Montréal (CARIM, 1994 à 2000). Conseil interculturel de Montréal (CiM, depuis 2001).

  13. 13.

    The monthly column “MONTRÉAL-INFO”, created in 1989, was broadcast in the periodicals of more than 20 ethnic communities.

  14. 14.

    Montréal is functionally bilingual (and in some neighborhoods trilingual) but officially it is a francophone city.

  15. 15.

    The Monchanin Center was founded in 1963 by the priest Jacques Langlais and was inspired mainly by the model proposed by Jules Monchanin. Monchanin’s approach to intercultural encounter was based on the importance of openness to a different culture and its experiential dimension, as well as the questioning of prejudices, stereotypes and the affirmation of the superiority of Christianity over other religions (Levy 2014).

  16. 16.

    The failure of the 1995 referendum that called on Quebeckers to make their voice heard for a second time on Québec sovereignty put an end to these hopes.

  17. 17.

    His own family experience in adopting children from Ecuador was promoted as a way of affirming his commitment to questions concerning migration.

  18. 18.

    This reform responded to the managerial vision that Bourque (himself a former senior civil servant) had over the administration and which insisted “on the reduction of bureaucracy, expenses and taxes, and [...] Improvement of organizational performance” (Belley 2003 quoted by Fourot 2013, author’s translation). Bourque abolished the post of secretary general on the pretext that its function disempowered civil servants (Fourot 2013).

  19. 19.

    The Montréal Advisory Committee on Intercultural Relations was created on 17 January 1990 by Resolution CE90, adopted by the City of Montréal Executive Committee.

  20. 20.

    This proclamation committed the City of Montréal, among other things, to implementing educational measures to promote diversity and solidarity within the administration and among all Montrealers (Ville de Montréal 2012).

  21. 21.

    The programme was created and financed in 2011 by the Défi Montréal du ministère de l’Immigration et des Communautés culturelles programme and by the City of Montréal.

  22. 22.

    Place à la relève is an initiative of the Ministry of immigration, diversity and inclusion (MIDI) and the City of Montréal. It was established in collaboration with the Ministère du Travail, de l’Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale (MTESS), the Ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport (MELS), the Ministère des Affaires municipales, des Régions et de l’Occupation du territoire (MAMROT) and the Conférence régionale des élus de Montréal (abolished in 2016).

  23. 23.

    See the cultural development policy of 2005–2015 et the Réseau accès culture (http://www.accesculture.com/).

  24. 24.

    For budgetary and political reasons, cities outside of Europe maintain a status as ICC “associates”.

  25. 25.

    http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/cultureheritage/culture/cities/Index/Montréal_fr.pdf retrieved on 27 April 2015.

  26. 26.

    Canada is a federation with two main levels of government, the federal government and the provincial governments. These two levels of government share jurisdiction. Unlike in other countries, municipalities in Canada do not constitute an order of government, but instead only an administrative level created by the provinces.

  27. 27.

    http://ville.Montréal.qc.ca/pls/portal/docs/page/d_social_fr/media/documents/Entente_signee.pdf retrieved on 27 April 2015.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada

    Marta Massana

  2. Laboratory for Research on Intercultural Relations, Montréal, Canada

    Gilles Rioux

Authors
  1. Marta Massana
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  2. Gilles Rioux
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Anthropology, University of Montreal, Montreal, Québec, Canada

    Bob W. White

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Massana, M., Rioux, G. (2018). The Case of Montréal: Intercultural City “Avant la Lettre”?. In: White, B. (eds) Intercultural Cities. Global Diversities. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62603-1_11

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