Who’s Afraid of Demergers?rn: The Straight Goods on Quebec’s Megacities

On January 1, 2002, the Parti Québecois fused 42 Quebec regions, including the island of Montreal, into megacities. These mergers polarized public opinion, sparked court battles and referenda, and helped dethrone the government. Some citizens saw the mergers as recipes for waste and higher taxes, others as an opportunity to bring Quebec’s cities into the 21st century. With referenda set for September, Quebec citizens must decide which position they support: megacities as egalitarian and efficient or as bureaucratic and undemocratic.rn