Richard Ryan (politician)

Richard Ryan
Montreal city councillor for Mile-End
In office
2013–2021
Preceded byAlex Norris
Succeeded byMarie Plourde
Ville-Marie Borough Councillor, appointed by the Mayor of Montreal
(with Anne-Marie Sigouin)
In office
2017–2021
Preceded byJean-Marc Gibeau and Karine Boivin Roy
Le Plateau-Mont-Royal borough councillor for Mile-End
In office
2009–2013
Preceded byEleni Fakotakis-Kolaitis
Succeeded byMarie Plourde
Personal details
Political partyProjet Montréal

Richard Ryan is a politician in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He has served on the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough council since 2009 and on the Montreal city council since 2013 as a member of Projet Montréal.

Private career

Ryan was a prominent member of the Mile End Citizens' Committee before entering political life. He helped to organize a series of meetings in Montreal's Mile End neighbourhood in early 2009 to encourage greater citizen involvement in urban planning, after the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough council announced a nine-million dollar revitalization program for the area's former industrial zone.[1]

Political career

Borough councillor

Ryan was first elected to the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough council in the 2009 Montreal municipal election, defeating Union Montreal incumbent Eleni Fakotakis-Kolaitis for the Mile-End borough council seat. Projet Montréal won ten city council seats in this election to become the third-largest party at the municipal level; in Plateau-Mont-Royal, it won all seven available seats to become the governing party. In his first term, Ryan advocated for a pedestrian level crossing between the Mile-End and Rosemont neighbourhoods,[2] supported a pilot project for urban beehives,[3] and helped facilitate a deal to prevent a community of artists from being forced out of Mile End's former industrial area due to gentrification.[4]

City councillor

Ryan was elected for Mile-End's city council seat in the 2013 municipal election, in which Projet Montréal emerged as the official opposition on city council and once again won every seat in Plateau-Mont-Royal.

In early 2014, Ryan introduced a motion requesting that the government of Quebec grant the city of Montreal greater powers to create social and affordable housing.[5] He later urged the provincial government to restrict sharp increases in the prices of commercial leases, following reports of some store owners being forced out of business.[6]

Ryan joined with three other Projet Montréal councillors to sleep outdoors at Concordia University on a cold night in March 2015, in conjunction with Stop Homelessness Action Week.[7] In 2016, he called for the city to tackle unsanitary housing via inspections and follow-ups, rather than relying on fines that were often ignored by landlords.[8]

In August 2017, he urged the city of Montreal and its police force to apologize for conducting violent raids on LGBTQ bars in years past. He was quoted as saying, "We have a duty to remember that it happened. And also to recognize those who fought against institutionalized homophobia at the time who are still living here in our community."[9] Ryan himself came out as bisexual in 2016.[10]

Ryan has organized "Jane's Walk" events in Plateau-Mont-Royal, inspired by the legacy of Jane Jacobs. In 2014, he was quoted as saying, "The idea [behind the walks] is to allow people to discover their neighbourhoods in a sort of alternative manner. People often like to walk through their neighbourhoods to perhaps discover a new area or a new shopping district. Jane's Walks brings us to another philosophy, which is what are the urban development challenges in our district? What changes came about because of citizen involvement? What changes have elected officials been able to achieve?"[11]

In the 2017 municipal election, he proposed that the city make greater use of an existing strategy to encourage housing promoters to provide 30 per cent social and affordable housing in return for some local by-law exemptions (e.g., receiving permission to construct more storeys than would normally be allowed).[12]

Ryan was re-elected in the 2017 election, as Project Montréal won the mayoral contest and a majority of seats on city council, as well as winning all seats in Plateau-Mont-Royal for the third consecutive time. Following the election, he was appointed as chair of the city committee on economic and urban development and housing.[13]

By virtue of holding his seat on city council, Ryan also continues to serve on the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough council. In November 2017, he also became one of two councillors directly appointed by new mayor Valérie Plante to the Ville-Marie borough council.[14]

Electoral record

2017 Montreal municipal election: Councillor, Mile-End
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Projet Montréal Richard Ryan (incumbent) 7,171 71.15 +12.80
Équipe Denis Coderre Iris Almeida-Côté 2,628 26.08 +10.96
Plateau sans frontières Halil Sustam 279 2.77 -4.71
Total valid votes 10,078 100 –
Total rejected ballots 255 – –
Turnout 10,333 48.33 -2.69
Electors on the lists 21,380 – –
Source: Election results, 2017, City of Montreal.
2013 Montreal municipal election: Councillor, Mile-End
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Projet Montréal Richard Ryan 6,126 58.35 +10.84
Coalition Montréal Galia Vaillancourt 2,000 19.05 -9.40
Équipe Denis Coderre Alain Clavet 1,587 15.12
Intégrité Montréal Isabelle Tremblay 785 7.48
Total valid votes 10,498 100 –
Total rejected ballots 382 – –
Turnout 10,880 51.02 +8.40
Electors on the lists 21,326 – –
Source: Election results, 2013, City of Montreal.
2009 Montreal municipal election: Borough councillor, Mile-End
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Projet Montréal Richard Ryan 4,349 48.52
Vision Montreal Michel Pauzé 2,555 28.51
Union Montreal Eleni Fakotakis-Kolaitis (incumbent) 2,059 22.97
Total valid votes 8,963 100 –
Total rejected ballots 290 – –
Turnout 9,253 42.60 –
Electors on the lists 21,719 – –
Source: Election results, 2009, City of Montreal.

References

  1. ^ Linda Gyulai, "Redefining St. Viateur East; Cafe consultations give residents voice on what should happen to old textile, clothing-manufacturing area," Montreal Gazette, 3 March 2009, A3.
  2. ^ Beatrice Fantoni, "Residents want rail crossing fast-tracked; 650 sign petition; Mile End, Rosemont pedestrians and cyclists seek a safe passage across divisive CPR line," Montreal Gazette, 13 August 2010, A3. See also Rene Bruemmer, "CP accidentally razes Mile End green zone; 'It's a bit shocking'; Rare wild city space home to 25 species of butterflies, 40 varieties of bees," Montreal Gazette, 18 October 2014, A3; Rene Bruemmer, "Level-crossing issue gets its day in court," Montreal Gazette, 4 February 2015, A2; Rene Bruemmer, "Citizens vow to fight rail firms," Montreal Gazette, 5 June 2015, A7.
  3. ^ Sarah Gilbert, "Her honey started keeping bees, now Mile End's abuzz; From Big Apple to Paris, apiculture is taking off," Montreal Gazette, 9 October 2010, B2; Monique Beaudin, "Seeds of self-sufficiency," Montreal Gazette, 21 May 2011, A4.
  4. ^ Marian Scott, "Borough takes bold action to protect artists; Mile end; Zoning law aims to limit real-estate speculation," Montreal Gazette, 6 March 2012, A7; Allan Woods, "Artists win one in Montreal," Toronto Star, 17 November 2012, E12; Rene Bruemmer, "Artists make their last stand; Working with a developer, their fight to stay in low-rent studios became a model of urban planning," Montreal Gazette, 27 April 2013, A3.
  5. ^ "Projet Montreal aims to add social housing," Montreal Gazette, 25 April 2014, A4.
  6. ^ "Skyrocketing rents," Montreal Gazette, 18 September 2014, A4.
  7. ^ Rene Bruemmer, "'It's about time' Richler is honoured," Montreal Gazette, 12 March 2015, A4. The article title is unrelated to the part of the story involving Ryan.
  8. ^ Lindsay Richardson, "City sees progress in fight against slumlords," Montreal Gazette, 28 June 2016, A5.
  9. ^ Jesse Feith, "'Brutal, mean and homophobic'; Montreal police and city urged to apologize for raids on LGBTQ bars," Montreal Gazette, 11 August 2017, A3.
  10. ^ Caroline Lévesque, "Montréal: le conseiller du Mile End sort du placard", canoe.ca, 19 June 2016, accessed 6 December 2017.
  11. ^ Rene Bruemmer, "Discovering your neighbourhoods; Jane's Walks being held this weekend will allow citizens to explore what challenges their areas are facing," Montreal Gazette, 2 May 2014, A4.
  12. ^ Rene Bruemmer, "Projet Montreal vows to boost affordable housing; Coderre calls plan to force developers to set aside 40 per cent of units 'impossible'," Montreal Gazette 25 October 2017, A4.
  13. ^ Romain Schué, "La commission sur l’examen des contrats confiée à l’opposition", Métro, 27 November 2017, accessed 6 December 2017.
  14. ^ Coordonnées des élus (Ville-Marie), City of Montreal, accessed 23 November 2017.