James V. Infantino is a retired politician in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He was a member of the Montréal-Nord city council from 1994 to 2001 and a member of the Montreal city council from 2001 to 2009.

James V. Infantino
Montreal City Councillor for Marie-Clarac
In office
2005–2009
Preceded byposition eliminated
Succeeded byClementina Teti-Tomassi
Montreal City Councillor for Montréal-Nord
(with Marcel Parent and Jean-Marc Gibeau)
In office
2002–2005
Preceded byposition created
Succeeded byposition eliminated
Montréal-Nord City Councillor, Division 8
In office
1998–2001
Preceded bycreated by redistribution[1]
Succeeded byposition eliminated
Montréal-Nord City Councillor, Division 9
In office
1998–2001
Preceded byArmand Nadeau
Succeeded byeliminated by redistribution[2]
Personal details
Political partyRenouveau municipal (1994–2001)
Montreal Island Citizens Union (MICU), renamed as Union Montreal (UM) (2001–09)

Montréal-Nord city councillor edit

Infantino ran in the 1994 Montréal-Nord municipal election as a candidate of mayor Yves Ryan's Renouveau municipal and was elected without difficulty.[3] A vocal supporter of the mayor, he was re-elected in 1998.[4]

Montreal city councillor edit

All of the municipalities on the Island of Montreal, including Montréal-Nord, were amalgamated into a single city on January 1, 2002. Infantino was narrowly elected to one of Montréal-Nord's three city council seats in the anticipatory 2001 Montreal municipal election as a candidate of Gérald Tremblay's Montreal Island Citizens Union (MICU).[5] Tremblay won the mayoral election and his party won a majority of seats on council, and Infantino served as a supporter of Tremblay's administration. He was appointed to the Montreal Metropolitan Community in 2002,[6] and by virtue of holding his city council seat he automatically served on the newly created Montréal-Nord borough council.

In 2004, Infantino argued that amalgamation had benefited Montréal-Nord by ensuring that road repairs would be covered by the city's central budget.[7] The following year, he supported an extension of Quebec Autoroute 25 to Laval, which he said would improve pedestrian safety in his borough.[8]

Infantino was re-elected in the 2005 municipal election, in which MICU won a second consecutive majority. He supported a controversial proposal to rename Montreal's Park Avenue after former Quebec premier Robert Bourassa in 2006; on the night of the vote, he was quoted as saying, "I think it's a one-for-one change. Park Ave. was great. Robert Bourassa was great."[9]

He did not seek re-election in 2009.[10]

Electoral record edit

2005 Montreal municipal election: Councillor, Marie-Clarac
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Citizens Union James Infantino (incumbent) 4,527 52.36
Vision Montreal Ibrahim Mustapha 2,815 32.56
Projet Montréal Monica Campo 764 8.84
White Elephant Louis Langevin 540 6.25
Total valid votes 8,646 100
Source: Election results, 2005, City of Montreal.
2001 Montreal municipal election: Councillor, Montréal-Nord (three members elected)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Citizens Union Marcel Parent 12,884 18.76
Citizens Union Jean-Marc Gibeau 12,097 17.61
Citizens Union James Infantino 11,451 16.67
Vision Montreal Michelle Allaire 11,359 16.54
Vision Montreal Luigi di Vito 9,960 14.50
Vision Montreal Nicole Roy-Arcelin 9,590 13.96
Independent Jean-Claude Mvilongo 1,354 1.97
Total valid votes 68,695 100
Source: Election results, 1833-2005 (in French), City of Montreal.
Montréal-Nord municipal election, 1998: Councillor, Division 8
Party Candidate Votes %
Renouveau municipal James Infantino (incumbent) elected
Sources: Le Gardien, September–October 2001, p. 28; "Vote recount abandoned," Montreal Gazette, 5 November 2001, A4.
1994 Montréal-Nord municipal election: Councillor, Division 9
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Renouveau municipal James Infantino 1,079 80.34
Collectivité de Montréal-Nord Lise Leonard 264 19.66
Total valid votes 1,343 100
Source: Voting Results: The Final Count," Montreal Gazette, 8 November 1994, A4.

References edit

  1. ^ The previous eighth ward councillor was Normand Fortin.
  2. ^ The new ninth ward councillor elected in 1998 was Robert Guerriero.
  3. ^ Mike King, "Battling 272 years of experience; Mayor and his team have been in power since 1963," Montreal Gazette, 21 October 1994, A4; "Voting results: The Final Count," Montreal Gazette, 8 November 1994, A4.
  4. ^ Charlie Fidelman, "Montreal North? Just bet on Ryan," Montreal Gazette, 8 October 1998, A8; "Vote recount abandoned," Montreal Gazette, 5 November 2001, A4.
  5. ^ John MacFarlane and Angus Loten, "'We showed who's boss': Team Tremblay captures the east," Montreal Gazette, 5 November 2001, A7; Mike King, "Megacity council candidate Allaire granted recount in Montreal North," Montreal Gazette, 10 November 2001, A4; Mike King, "Recount decision by noon: Montreal North candidate asked court for help," Montreal Gazette, 14 November 2001, A4; "Vote recount abandoned," Montreal Gazette, 5 November 2001, A4.
  6. ^ Linda Gyulai, "Plenty of extra pay to go around," Montreal Gazette, 14 May 2002, A4.
  7. ^ Linda Gyulai, "Pothole paradise: Emergency state requires $200 million a year," Montreal Gazette, 8 February 2004, A1.
  8. ^ Catherine Solyom, "North-end mayors line up to back Highway 25," Montreal Gazette, 6 May 2005, A6.
  9. ^ Linda Gyulai, "No Walk in the Park," Montreal Gazette, 29 November 2006, A1.
  10. ^ "Councillor won't run," Montreal Gazette, 11 July 2009, A8.