Montreal votes for autonomy, not independence
The town's first constitutional referendum landed on Special Autonomous Status, 6–4 after two rounds of ranked-choice transfers.
Montreal has voted to stay in Acadia — but on new terms.
The town's constitutional referendum closed on August 6 after two days of voting, with Special Autonomous Status winning 6–4 on the final round. The option keeps Montreal inside Acadia while rewriting the contract: local law supremacy, and the possibility of a one-chunk nation to serve as a spawn while the main town stays Acadian.
Ten citizens cast ranked ballots across four options. On first preferences the Compromise led with 4, Sovereignty-Association had 3, Full Status Quo 2, and Total Independence 1. Total Independence was eliminated first and its vote transferred to Sovereignty-Association, tying the count 4–4. Full Status Quo went next, and both of its votes moved to the Compromise — enough to clear 50% and end the count at 6–4. No ballots were exhausted.
Under the charter cooldown announced alongside the vote, the result is locked in for 60 days, until October 2026.
The referendum was a campaign promise from mayor Moibaguette, and it was not a quiet one. kicoder said publicly he would withdraw from Montreal's government if the plan moved forward, arguing that a town with roughly twenty genuinely active players had more to lose than gain from going it alone; puthivuthheng said he would do the same. Others held that a vote was the only way to find out where the town actually stood. In the end the winning option was one that keeps Montreal in Acadia.
Moibaguette said his cabinet will spend the coming week working with the federal government on what autonomy looks like in practice — more representatives at the next election, consultation on treaties in the region, and better terms for Montreal in the national shop.
« Si j'ai bien compris, vous êtes en train de me dire: à la prochaine fois. »
