Montreal mayor seeks compromise over mega-city's future

Montreal mayor Gérald Tremblay is said to be studying the idea of handing more power over to Montreal's boroughs.

That, he hopes, would bring the pro- and anti-merger advocates closer together and convince those opposed to the island-wide city of Montreal to change their minds.

Tremblay's administration has been divided between those who want to de-merge the island-wide city and those who like things just the way they are.

Friday, Tremblay and a number of city councillors met with Louis Bernard who tabled a report three years ago calling for a "One Island, One City" model for Montreal.

The idea was eventually adopted as the basis for the Parti Québécois' Bill 170 which created Quebec's mega-cities, including Montreal.

The one part of Bernard's report not adopted by the Landry government was the idea that the new cities should be decentralized with boroughs having more power and autonomy.