Death of former Montreal North mayor Marcel Parent

Photo: Jacques Nadeau Archives Le Devoir Marcel Parent, then mayor of Montréal-Nord, September 6, 2008

Jeanne Corriveau

Published at 4:26 p.m.

• Québec

Mayor of the borough of Montréal-Nord from 2001 to 2009 and former Liberal MP in the riding of Sauvé, Marcel Parent died at the age of 92.

Marcel Parent succeeded Yves Ryan as head of Montréal-Nord in the wake of municipal mergers. A member of the Union des citoyens de l’île de Montréal (UCIM), the party led by Gérald Tremblay, Marcel Parent was appointed to the position of borough president, then re-elected as mayor of this borough in 2005.

During his successive terms, he also acted as president of the municipal council, a position he held until his retirement from political life in 2009.

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Marcel Parent was in office when the Fredy Villanueva affair broke out. The death of the young man, shot by a police officer on August 9, 2008 near Henri-Bourassa Park, shook Montreal North, a neighbourhood struggling with poverty, unemployment and school dropouts, and led to riots in the neighbourhood in the days that followed. “I don’t want to go through that again and I’m going to make sure that those who come after me don’t have to go through it,” declared Mr. Parent, who had been criticized for not seeing the excesses coming.

Under his leadership, several revitalization projects were launched in his borough, including the construction of the Maison culturelle et communautaire de Montréal-Nord, the development of a refrigerated skating rink at Parc Le Carignan and the creation of a local development centre.

Marcel Parent previously served as a commissioner in the former Montreal Catholic School Board (CECM), then as its president, before being elected as the MNA for Sauvé in a 1984 by-election. He was re-elected three times and held several positions, including chair of the Liberal Party MNA caucus from 1989 to 1994 and parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Education. He left provincial politics in 1998.

“Mr. Parent was passionate about public service. As councillor and mayor of Montreal North and MNA for the Sauvé riding, he served our people with integrity, compassion and dedication,” said current Montreal North Mayor Christine Black in a press release Monday.