In December 2011, Arrondissement Le Plateau-Mont-Royal informed some residents that it was setting up new SRRR zones (street parking reserved for residents) in their area, as of February 2012. Citizens were surprised of this decision since a recent survey conducted by the borough, in June 2011, had probably shown that citizens were against this idea.
Citizens tried in vain to get explanations. There was no information on the survey results or any explanation for this decision on the borough’s Web site. When citizens would call the borough, they were unable to obtain clear information. Following a formal request under the Right of Access to information laws, asking for the results of the survey, the borough had only responded that “no document corresponding to your request had been found”.
Our investigation showed that responses to the survey were never compiled, due to a new orientation adopted by the Borough Council, in its 2012 budget, to “increase the target of local revenue, namely by […] the creation of new SRRR zones”. This prerogative belongs to elected officials and our office had no jurisdiction to intervene in this matter.
We found, however, that the borough had lacked transparency towards its residents by not informing them of the change of orientation and not providing any explanation for this new decision. In our opinion, the borough should have notified the residents, quickly and in writing, that the survey would not be taken into account since the Borough Council had adopted a new approach.
The borough assured us that, in the future, it would pay special attention to the transparency, sufficiency and clarity of its communications with citizens and, more specifically, in files related to the management of parking spaces. A recent follow-up showed compliance to this commitment.
