John Gardiner is a former politician in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He was a member of the Montreal city council from 1974 to 1978 and again from 1982 to 1994 as a member of the Montreal Citizens' Movement (MCM) and was a prominent figure in Jean Doré's municipal administration.
Early life and career An anglophone Montrealer, Gardiner studied history at McGill University.Henry Aubin, "Here are 10 views on how to boost Montreal," Montreal Gazette, 7 February 1991, B3; Jean Doré, "`I see Montreal as a meeting place of peoples and nations'," Montreal Gazette, 7 November 1991, B3. He was a high-school teacher from 1967 to 1973 and a school commissioner from 1973 to 1977. He also co-ordinated Montreal's Milton Park project, in which capacity he organized six hundred units of non-profit housing.Ingrid Peritz, "Dore team waiting in the wings; MCM stalwarts set to take top city jobs if party wins Nov. 9," Montreal Gazette, 1 November 1986, B1; Felicity Munn, "Adieu, Drapeau, adieu!", Toronto Star, 8 November 1986, B6; Robert Winters, "Who is who in the new MCM administration; MCM backbenchers will demand more say in decision-making than Drapeau-era councillors," Montreal Gazette, 15 November 1986, A4; Ingrid Peritz, "How David beat Goliath in Milton Park," Montreal Gazette, 16 May 1987, J8; John Sewell, "A neighborhood's story," Globe and Mail, 1 August 1987, C17.
Opposition councillor Gardiner was a founding member of the Montreal Citizens' Movement and became one of its first elected councillors in the 1974 municipal election, defeating incumbent councillor Hyman Brock in the second Saint-Louis ward. He lost his seat to Civic Party candidate Joffre Laporte in 1978 but was returned over Laporte in a rematch four years later.
Mayor Jean Drapeau's Civic Party dominated municipal politics in this period, and Gardiner served as a member of the opposition. He was considered a radical left-wing activist in the 1970s and took part in several efforts to preserve historic buildings from urban development.Marion Scott, "John Gardiner: from wild-eyed radical to developers' ally," Montreal Gazette, 27 October 1990, B1. By the 1980s, he had moved to the political centre.Ingrid Peritz, "Dore team waiting in the wings; MCM stalwarts set to take top city jobs if party wins Nov. 9," Montreal Gazette, 1 November 1986, B1; Ann Laughlin, "MCM has firm grip in most 'Dore country' districts," Montreal Gazette, 6 November 1986, A4.
Gardiner was the MCM's house leader and housing critic in the mid-1980s.Robert Winters and Eloise Morin, "Middlemen get renovation funds; Take fees to cut red tape that shouldn't exist in first place, critics say," Montreal Gazette, 13 April 1985, A1; Ingrid Peritz, "Montreal North mayor seen as first transit chief," Montreal Gazette, 17 December 1985, A3. In 1985, he called for the city to hold public consultations before approving any large-scale downtown development projects.Susan Semenak, "City OK's widening of McGill College," Montreal Gazette, 13 June 1985, A1. The following year, he criticized the Drapeau administration's decision to cancel a housing renovations program."City cancelling subsidies for housing renovations," Montreal Gazette, 12 April 1986, A3.
Shortly before the 1986 municipal election, Gardiner said that francophone Montrealers were becoming increasingly engaged in municipal politics, in light of the growing role of the French language in the city's professional sector. He added that this change benefited the MCM's chances of winning the election.John Sewell, "The significance of the summit," Globe and Mail, 20 June 1986, A8.
Doré administration 1986–90 The MCM won a landslide majority in the 1986 municipal election and its mayoral candidate, Jean Doré, was elected to succeed Drapeau. After being sworn in as mayor, Doré appointed Gardiner to the Montreal executive committee (i.e., the municipal cabinet) with responsibility for housing and city planning.Ingrid Peritz, "Fainstat will chair executive including 3 women, 2 anglos," Montreal Gazette, 26 November 1986, A1. Gardiner also served as the leader of the Doré government in council.Elizabeth Thompson, "City seeks new powers through charter amendments," Montreal Gazette, 11 March 1989, A3. He supported several development projects while also attempting to promote low-income housing.
Early in the Doré administration, Gardiner offered support to a new low-income housing project in the Rosemont area, pledged that Montreal would cover most costs in renovating dangerous rooming houses, and announced that the city would make rent control a condition of landlords receiving renovation grants.Ingrid Peritz, "City plans to use renovation grants to control rents," Montreal Gazette, 4 July 1987, A3; Debbie Parkes, "City agrees to hold land for low-income housing," Montreal Gazette, 16 April 1987, B10; Ingrid Peritz, "City to pay $5.5 million for safety of roomers," Montreal Gazette, 22 May 1987, A1. In 1989, he announced that Montreal would introduce a tax incentive to make home ownership easier and prevent a drift to the suburbs.Robert Winters, "City considers new planning body; Developers call proposal another level of red tape," Montreal Gazette, 26 October 1988, C1; Lewis Harris, "City plans tax break to spur first-time home buying," Montreal Gazette, 7 February 1989, A3. Gardiner introduced a similar tax incentive in 1993, targeted to owners of newly constructed homes. "City proposes tax rebates for buyers of new homes," Montreal Gazette, 27 February 1993, A3.
Gardiner supported several high-rise projects in the Doré administration's first term and was sometimes accused of ignoring tenant rights. One of the most controversial projects he supported was an unsuccessful condominium development on Overdale Avenue that caused the displacement of seventy tenants. Gardiner required the developers to provide alternate housing for all of the affected parties as a condition of the project's approval; this notwithstanding, some MCM councillors opposed the project on the grounds that it was unfair to the tenants and created a bad precedent for future development on the Saint Lawrence River.Ingrid Peritz, "Developers must replace cheap housing," Montreal Gazette, 3 June 1987, A1; Lewis Harris, "MCM's bigwigs split on question of a rift in party," Montreal Gazette, 21 August 1987, A3; Lewis Harris, "Let Overdale tenants stay: city report," Montreal Gazette, 23 September 1987, A1. Despite the internal opposition, the Doré administration approved the project in September 1987. The tenants were ultimately evicted and relocated, although the developers never followed through with building the condominiums.Ingrid Peritz, "City rejects report, OKs Overdale condo plan," Montreal Gazette, 30 September 1987, A1; Jack Todd, "Ruined promises; MCM should admit error and step in to save Overdale," Montreal Gazette, 10 September 1991, A3. Gardiner later helped approve two 45-storey office buildings in 1988, despite further opposition from within the MCM.Lewis Harris, "45-storey towers get council nod despite dissent," Montreal Gazette, 28 September 1988, A3.
In March 1988, Gardiner announced the first draft of a long-awaited master plan for Montreal's downtown. Its key planks included making Montreal streets friendlier to pedestrians, requiring that no new buildings significantly block the view of Mount Royal, and giving incentives to developers who create "social useful" amenities such as day care centres.Lewis Harris, "Special panel to scrutinize city's master plan for development," Montreal Gazette, 26 March 1988, A3; Lewis Harris, "Downtown master plan maps out 'vibrancy streets' for city," Montreal Gazette, 31 March 1988, A3; Lewis Harris, "City to encourage 'socially useful' projects," Montreal Gazette, 30 March 1988, A3. Gardiner followed this in January 1990 with a ten-year downtown plan that included the creation of ten thousand new housing units and significant new office space and a restoration of the area's main commercial thoroughfare.James Mennie, "City wants more people to live downtown; 10-year master plan aims to develop shopping areas, improve housing and transit," Montreal Gazette, 27 January 1990, A1. Gardiner led council in approving the plan later in the year; critics charged that it favoured developers by permitting the construction of more high-rise offices.John Gardiner, "City's master plan protects heritage buildings" [letter], Montreal Gazette, 20 July 1990, A3; Henry Aubin, "Municipal parties aren't unanimous," Montreal Gazette, 14 August 1990, B3; "MCM: betrayal of a mandate; City hall's master plan is a huge step backward" [editorial], Montreal Gazette, 14 August 1990, B2; Henry Aubin, "Master plan imperils city's human scale; Buildings too large for Montreal's needs would be fostered," Montreal Gazette, 14 August 1990, B3; Jack Todd, "Towers of power; MCM betrays its roots with absurd master plan," Montreal Gazette, 22 August 1990, A3.
Opponents argued that Gardiner did not sufficiently prioritize low-income housing, while Gardiner responded that Montreal did not receive sufficient funds from the government of Canada.Lewis Harris, "City plan lacks low-cost housing: critics," Montreal Gazette, 3 April 1990, A3; "Montreal doesn't get its share of low-cost housing: Gardiner," Montreal Gazette, 22 May 1990, A3; Marian Scott, "MCM assailed on low-cost housing," Montreal Gazette, 1 November 1990, A1. When seeking re-election in 1990, he said that he still regarded himself as a supporter of poor and disenfranchised Montrealers. He argued that Montreal had raised $120 million in new tax revenues from office towers since 1986 and openly described himself as "pro-development."Marian Scott, "City under siege; Opponents criticize MCM's development plans," Montreal Gazette, 27 October 1990, B1. 1990–94 The MCM won second consecutive landslide victory in the 1990 election, and Gardiner was re-elected without difficulty in his new ward of Mile End. He was promoted to vice-chair of the executive committee after the election, with responsibility for economic development, tourism, and housing.Irwin Block, "Cousineau leads top city panel; First woman to be chairman of executive committee," Montreal Gazette, 16 November 1990, A1. Oversight of the city's master plan was transferred to another councillor. See Lewis Harris, "Executive committee rookie on front lines in war against poverty," Montreal Gazette, 24 November 1990, B4. Shortly after his appointment, he said that he would consider declaring downtown Montreal a tourist zone to permit Sunday shopping.Lewis Harris, "City studying downtown Sunday shopping; Proposal would have the core commercial area declared a tourist zone," Montreal Gazette, 29 November 1990, A3.