Civic Party of Montreal


The Civic Party of Montreal was a municipal political party in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It existed from 1960 to 1994. Throughout its history, the Civic Party was dominated by the personality of its leader Jean Drapeau.

Origins

It was established in September 1960 when 17 out of the 33 Civic Action League Councillors, led by Jean Drapeau, crossed the floor to create a new party.

Achievements

The Civic Party won two thirds of the City Council's seats as well as the office of Mayor in 1960 and remained in power until 1986. It is credited with:
It also helped bringing Major League Baseball to Montreal with the creation of the Montreal Expos.
During the 1970s, Montreal was a virtual one-party state, with the Civic Party facing only token opposition in City Hall.

Decline

In the 1980s, the party steadily lost support to the Montreal Citizens' Movement. In 1982, RCM leader Jean Doré gave Drapeau his closest competition in decades.
Drapeau's retirement in 1986 proved ominous for the party. It was increasingly seen as tired and complacent, and Drapeau had no clear successor. The 1986 municipal elections saw the Civic Party swept from power in a massive RCM landslide. Drapeau's replacement as leader, Claude Dupras, was heavily defeated in the mayoral race by Doré. The Civic Party also lost all but one of its seats on council, that of Germain Prégent.
Having spent all but a few months of its existence before 1986 as the governing party, the Civic Party was ill-prepared for opposition. Unable to get the better of the RCM, the party sank into paralysis. It was soon torn between a reformist faction led by Dupras and a traditionalist faction. Although Prégent had previously blamed Drapeau for the severe beating the party took in 1986, he identified with the traditionalist faction, and left the party to sit as an Independent by 1988 when Dupras tightened his hold on the party.
The party managed to win a by-election in 1989, which it held at the 1990 municipal election. However, its candidate for mayor, Nicole Gagnon-Larocque, only won 21 percent of the vote. It won another by-election in 1992. It regained the status of Official Opposition by merging with the Parti Municipal in July 1992. However, in 1993, it lost further ground when Jérôme Choquette left the party to form the Parti des Montréalais. Choquette had been defeated by Clément Bluteau for the party leadership.
Shortly afterward, the once-mighty party collapsed with dramatic speed. Bluteau resigned as party leader after less than a year. The party rapidly collapsed, and in 1994 its remains merged into Choquette's Parti des Montréalais, Choquette ran for Mayor in 1994 and finished third with 13% of the vote. Only two of his candidates were elected to City Hall.

Mayoral candidates

ElectionMayoral candidatePopular voteNumber of councillors
1960Jean Drapeau53%44/66
1962Jean Drapeau88%39/45
1966Jean Drapeau94%45/48
1970Jean Drapeau92%52/52
1974Jean Drapeau55%37/55
1978Jean Drapeau61%52/54
1982Jean Drapeau48%39/57
1986Claude Dupras29%1/58
1990Nicole Gagnon-Larocque21%1/50

Victories are indicated with bold fonts.