| Westmount | |
|---|---|
| — City — | |
| City of Westmount - Ville de Westmount | |
| Upper Westmount and Westmount Summit seen from Murray Hill Park. | |
| Motto: Robur meum civium fides (My strength is the faithfulness of my citizens) |
|
| Location of Mount Royal on the Island of Montreal. (Grey areas indicate demerged municipalities). |
|
| Country | Canada |
| Province | Quebec |
| Region | Montreal |
| Founded | 1874 |
| Established | 1908 |
| Electoral Districts Federal |
Westmount—Ville-Marie |
| Provincial | Westmount—Saint-Louis |
| Government[1][2][3] | |
| • Mayor | Peter Trent |
| • Federal MP(s) | Marc Garneau (LIB) |
| • Quebec MNA(s) | Jacques Chagnon (PLQ) |
| Area[4] | |
| • Land | 4.02 km2 (1.6 sq mi) |
| Population (2006)[4] | |
| • Total | 20,494 |
| • Density | 5,092.6/km2 (13,189.8/sq mi) |
| • Change (2001-06) | 3.9% |
| • Dwellings | 9,418 |
| Time zone | EST (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| Area code(s) | 514/438 |
| Access Routes[5] | Route 138 |
| Website | www.westmount.org |
Westmount is a city on the Island of Montreal, an enclave of the city of Montreal, in southwestern Quebec, Canada; pop. 20,494; area 4.02 km²; population density of 5,092.56 inhabitants/km².
Westmount is mostly a wealthy residential area, containing schools, an arena, a pool, a public library and a number of parks, including Westmount Park and King George Park (also known as Murray Hill Park). The city operates its own electricity distribution company Westmount Light & Power (Hydro Westmount). The city is also the location of three Canadian Forces Primary Reserves : 34 Combat Engineer Regiment, The Royal Montreal Regiment and 34th Signals Regiment.
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Westmount was first incorporated as a city in 1874 (as the Village of Côte St-Antoine, and later the Town of Côte St-Antoine) and remained so until January 1, 2002 when it was forced to become a borough of the City of Montreal. On June 20, 2004 it voted to "demerge" and became an independent city again on January 1, 2006. However, it has not truly regained its former status since the bulk of its municipal taxes go to the newly created Agglomeration Council, which oversees activities common to all municipalities on the Island of Montreal (e.g. fire protection, public transit) even after the demerger.
Traditionally, the community of Westmount was an enclave of wealthy anglophones of British ancestry, having been at one point the richest community in Canada; it now competes with West Vancouver in British Columbia, Forest Hill, Rosedale, and The Bridle Path, in Toronto for the title. This made the city one of several symbolic targets of FLQ terrorist bombings in the 1960s, culminating in the 1970 October Crisis. However, it is now mostly inhabited by middle and upper-middle class families of multiple ethnic and linguistic backgrounds with the stereotype only partially existing at the very top of the mountain, around Summit Circle, a road which rings around its summit (one of the three peaks of Mount Royal), and on which some of Montreal's wealthiest families (including the Bronfmans and the Molsons) have built their homes as well as select avenues located off The Boulevard.
The city is roughly 4 km sq., and occupies an area of land on the south face of the southern peak of Mount Royal. The city, most of which is on steep terrain, extends from the summit to the end of the narrow plateau at the foot of the mountain.
Most of the city is residential. Homes increase in size and value toward the top of the mountain, with the largest and most expensive being on or near Summit Circle.
There are several small commercial districts on Sherbrooke Street from the city's western boundary to the intersection of Sherbrooke Street and Victoria Avenue ("Victoria Village"), on Saint Catherine Street across from Place Alexis Nihon, on Greene Avenue and on De Maisonneuve Boulevard near the Atwater metro station.
"Westmount Adjacent" is term applied by realtors to a district in the borough of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, located in between the city of Westmount, the Décarie Expressway, De Maisonneuve Boulevard and the lands of Villa Maria private Catholic girls school.[6]
The city is home to Dawson College, Quebec's largest CEGEP, and Marianopolis College; Westmount High School with its sister elementary school Westmount Park School; Place Alexis Nihon and office towers; some of the most prestigious private schools in Quebec, including Miss Edgar's and Miss Cramp's School, Selwyn House School, Villa Sainte-Marcelline and The Study; and Westmount Square residential towers and shopping complex, designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and funded largely by Westmount resident Samuel Bronfman, the founder of the Seagram liquor empire.
There are two main parks within the city: Murray Park and Westmount Park. A forest area is located at the summit, within Summit Circle.
Located between Sherbrooke Street and de Maisonneuve Avenue to the north and south, and Melville and Lansdowne Avenue to the east and west, this 1,141,002 sq ft (106,002.6 m2) park is the second largest in Westmount.
The landscaping design was undertaken in 1912 by M.J. Manning, and comprises large playing fields at the east and south sides, and Westmount Arena and adjacent swimming pool at the southesast corner. The central area contains an extensive playground, foot paths, ponds and wading pools, and tennis courts. Westmount Library, built in 1897,[7] Victoria Hall, and a large greenhouse are located on the north side.[8]
Since regaining its status as a city, Westmount is governed by a City Council made up of a mayor and eight "district" councillors. The current mayor of Westmount is Peter Trent. In addition to the local city council, Westmount is represented by its mayor on the Montreal Agglomeration Council.
| District number | Councillor |
|---|---|
| District 1 | Patrick Martin |
| District 2 | Timothy Price |
| District 3 | Victor M. Drury |
| District 4 | Kathleen Warner Duncan |
| District 5 | Gary Ikeman |
| District 6 | Nicole Forbes |
| District 7 | Cynthia Lulham |
| District 8 | Theodora Samiotis |
Throughout Quebec, Westmount is known as an overwhelmingly Liberal riding, both federally and provincially.
On the federal level, Westmount is represented in the Westmount—Ville-Marie riding. The riding was won by Marc Garneau in the 2008 federal election.
Provincially, the city is represented in the riding of Westmount—Saint-Louis by MNA Jacques Chagnon of the Quebec Liberal Party.
As of the census of 2001, there were 19,727 people, 8,460 households, and 5,215 families residing in the city. The population density was 4,907.21/km² . There were 9,333 housing units at an average density of 2,321.64/km².
The income per-capita for a household is $210,120[9] one of the highest in North America. The largest occupation categories were 33.0% employed in management occupations, 20.3% in business, finance, and administration occupations, and 15.4% in social science, education, government service and religion occupations.
There were 8,460 households out of which 26.2% had children living with them, 47.5% were married couples living together, 6.7% had a female lone-parent as a householder, and 35.5% of all households were made up of individuals. The average married-couple family size was 3.1.
In the city the population was spread out with 15.7% under the age of 15, 11.9% from 15 to 24, 22.9% from 25 to 44, 28.6% from 45 to 64, and 20.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females there were 83.7 males. For every 100 females age 15 and over, there were 80.2 males.
About 27% of the population is foreign-born, most having immigrated since 1891. Visible minorities constitute 14% of the population (Chinese 3%, Arab 2.8%, Latin American 2.1%, West Asian 1.6%, South Asian 1.3%).[10] Residents declared their religions as Catholic (31.0%), Protestant (21.5%), Christian Orthodox (3.7%), Jewish (3.2%), Muslim (2.7%) and other Christian (1.9%).
Westmount's residents are predominantly bilingual: 75% speak English as their first official language; 76.3% can speak both English and French, 20.5% of the population can speak only English, 3.1% can speak only French.
The 2006 census found that over 54% of residents spoke English, and over 21% spoke French, as their mother tongue.[11]
| Mother tongue | Population | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| English | 10,720 | 54.13% |
| French | 4,220 | 21.31% |
| English and French | 305 | 1.54% |
| English and a non-official language | 155 | 0.78% |
| French and a non-official language | 90 | 0.45% |
| English, French and a non-official language | 50 | 0.25% |
| Spanish | 560 | 2.83% |
| Arabic | 510 | 2.58% |
| Chinese | 425 | 2.15% |
| German | 285 | 1.44% |
| Russian | 280 | 1.41% |
| Italian | 265 | 1.33% |
| Mother tongue | Population | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Persian | 225 | 1.14% |
| Hungarian | 185 | 0.93% |
| Romanian | 165 | 0.83% |
| Greek | 150 | 0.76% |
| Polish | 140 | 0.71% |
| Tagalog | 100 | 0.50% |
| Yiddish | 100 | 0.50% |
| Portuguese | 95 | 0.48% |
| Dutch | 65 | 0.33% |
| Hebrew | 55 | 0.28% |
| Armenian | 50 | 0.25% |
| Ukrainian | 50 | 0.25% |
While trying to prevent Westmount from being amalgamated into greater Montreal, Westmount Mayor Peter Trent and city council asserted that the city was a designated anglophone institution and should not be merged into francophone greater Montreal. In response to this opposition, Municipal Affairs Minister Louise Harel said that Westmount's resistance "reeked of colonialism" and that the opposition was an "ethnic project", statements for which she would refuse to apologize.[12] When asked for comment, Quebec Premier Bernard Landry said the minister had his full support and that the opposition was little more than Quebec bashing.[13] Several federalist public figures criticized Landry's statement: Jean Charest called it insulting to the intelligence of the citizens of Quebec; Joseph Gabary, president of the Quebec Chapter of the Canadian Jewish Congress, called the language "crude"; Alliance Quebec also criticized the premier for singling out the city for special criticism. [14]
Westmount is also known for being one of the two island municipalities that refused to rename their sections of Dorchester to Boulevard René-Lévesque. After the city of Montreal changed the name, Westmount retained the name of Dorchester on their portion, as did Montréal-Est.
Westmount's Westmount Arena is part of a joint arena and pool complex built in 1959. The arena honours early Montreal ice hockey teams with replica Stanley Cup banners. It is to be renovated from the summer of 2011 to the fall late fall of 2011 or early winter of 2012. It is home to the Westmount Wings and the Westmount Predators (soon to be "Westmount Wild").
Westmount is also home of the oldest active rugby club in North America, the Westmount Rugby Club.
In addition, the city's swim team, the Westmount Dolphins,[15] won the 2007 Section B Alps finals.
Westmount is or was the residence of:
and the birthplace of:
| Ville-Marie (Montreal) | ||||
| Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce (Montreal) | Le Sud-Ouest (Montreal) | |||
| Westmount | ||||
| Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce (Montreal) |