Warren Allmand, speaking in 2006. More than 150 attended a public hearing to oppose Park Avenue name change honouring late premier Bourassa Wednesday, November 22 2006.

By Dan Delmar

Warren Allmand has less than seven months remaining in a political career that has spanned nearly four decades and three levels of government. He won’t seek re-election as a city councillor in November and told The Suburban that retirement will be anything but idle.

Allmand took some of his colleagues by surprise last month announcing that, at age 76, his first term as councillor for NDG’s Loyola district would be his last. He’s stepping aside to focus on work in the field of human rights and, perhaps, to write an autobiography.

“I’ve found it impossible, when you’re a city councillor, to get a book on track,” Allmand said, referring to his project on the rights of indigenous peoples. “The biggest blight on Canada’s human rights record has been the treatment of Aboriginals.”

Human rights issues are Allmand’s passion. He has a history of working with rights organizations and said that although progress has been made in recent years with Canada’s First Nations, much still needs to be done. He criticized the Conservative government for being one of only four countries not to sign the United Nations Declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples in 2007.

As a member of the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group, he closely followed dossiers like that of Maher Arar, a Canadian who was tortured by the Syrian government.

“People have been put in prison for years and have never gone to trial,” he noted, referring to post-9/11 law enforcement measures like security certificates issued by the Canadian government. As Canada’s former Solicitor General, he is well-versed in matters of law and admitted that he would have liked for the higher-ups in the Tremblay administration to have sought his advice more often.

“I feel I could have been a lot more useful to the city, but I didn’t want to be on the executive committee,” Allmand said. “I could have been of some assistance on issues relating to police and public order.”

Allmand spoke up when the city was flirting with the idea of a ban on wearing masks during public gatherings. He pointed out that the criminal code already has a provision on face coverings while committing acts of crime; the city bylaw has not been put to council.

A Liberal for most of his life, he was Canada’s Solicitor General from 1972 to 1976, while he was also NDG’s MP. He held that post for over 30 years and was succeeded by Marlene Jennings in 1997. He began his political career as a member of the Young Liberals, working his way up to NDG riding president, before winning the nomination in 1965. He also worked for their provincial counterparts, helping Jean Lesage get elected in 1960.

Introducing a bill banning the death penalty was one of Allmand’s proudest moments; it passed in 1976 by six votes.

“Trudeau was prime minister and agreed that this had to be done,” he recalled. “We had been commuting all death sentences to life in prison. [Keeping it on the books] was hypocritical.”

The Liberal convention which took place this past weekend was one of the few such gatherings Allmand had missed. As a former minister, he is an automatic delegate and his presence is not required. He said he wasn’t thrilled about the idea of spending about $2,000 to travel to Vancouver for a convention with no leadership race or any policy discussions of any significance. On leader Michael Ignatieff, he is taking a wait-and-see attitude.

“I didn’t know anything about him. He had just got on the scene,” he said. “I would still like to know more about this guy.”

From objecting to the Notwithstanding Clause, which allows Parliament or provincial assemblies to veto Charter rights, under Prime Minister Jean Chrétien to repeatedly criticizing Côte des Neiges-NDG borough mayor Michael Applebaum over not opening the urban planning commission meetings to the public, Allmand is known for politely breaking ranks with members of his party. He was one of few councillors who voted against the renaming of Park Avenue and the development project in Griffintown, which he describes as a pipe dream.

“There’s no demand for it. Everybody agreed that it should be developed,” he said, but not by including big box stores that would draw even more shoppers away from the downtown core.

Mired in scandal, Montreal mayor Gérald Tremblay still has Allmand’s respect. He describes Tremblay as a “good mayor,” but also points out that he “shouldn’t be compared with divinity. Compare him with the alternative. On the whole, he seems very pro-democracy. I would still support him.”

Allmand looks back on his political career with fond memories. As a witness and often a participant in Canadian history, he is a fountain of knowledge and can barely end one story without beginning another.

“I was there when we voted in Medicare, the Charter of Rights, when we repatriated the Constitution…and people say you never get anything done in politics!”

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