Candidates, Parties and Platforms

Dominant themes

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Governance, integrity and transparency, public transportation, infrastructure and urban spaces, families’ exodus, cultural and economic restarts.

Parties

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Projet Montréal

Projet Montréal was founded in 2004 by Richard Bergeron and Claude Mainville. This party actually has 13 elected representatives, including actual mayors of Plateau Mont-Royal and Rosemont–La-Petite-Patrie, respectively Luc Ferrandez and François William Croteau. Richard Bergeron was born in Alma and has been living in Montreal since 1975. As an Architect, he holds a Masters degree in Urban studies and a PhD in Urban planning. He taught at Institut d’urbanisme, was president of the Fédération des coopératives d’habitation de l’Île de Montréal, was a consultant of the Minister in charge of Montreal, was an analyst and writer for the le Groupe de travail sur les transports du Mécanisme québécois de concertation sur les changements climatiques and he was in charge of strategic analysis at the Agence métropolitaine de transport (AMT). He also conducted research on the management of urban services and the environment, as well as the housing economy and the development of vacant spaces. He is the author of L’anti-développement: le prix du libéralisme (1991), Le livre noir de l’automobile (1999), L’économie de l’automobile au Québec (2003) et Les Québécois au volant, c’est mortel (2005). His first experience linked to city council goes back to 2004. He was elected in 2005, and then in 2009 to city council. He is actually the head of Projet Montréal (second party of the opposition) and is a city councillor from the Jeanne-Mance district of the Plateau Mont-Royal.

Image source: projetmontreal.org/

Platform

Projet Montréal’s platform has six principal points:

1. Reinforcing democracy;
2. Economic prosperity and vitality;
3. Urban exodus (appealing to the needs of young families);
4. Green transportation (Tramway, reduction of the amount of automobiles on the road and augmentation of the transportation by foot, biking or public transit.);
5. Protection and better visibility for green spaces and the water fronts (better access to the river, protection of green spaces and improvement of waste management); and
6. Cultural leadership (affirm Montreal’s status as a francophone metropolis of America and take advantage of its cosmopolitan nature).

Integration Montréal

The Intégrité Montréal party was created recently, parallel to the announcement of its founding member, Michel Brûlé. Brûlé has a master degree in French and Quebec literature as well as a certificate in Education. He was a high school teacher and an adult education teacher, before he was a teaching assistant, then editor, and founder of Éditions des Intouchables and owener of publishing houses Lanctôt éditeur and Le Loup de gouttière, later renamed Les éditions Michel Brûlé and Les éditions Cornac. He notably published L’Enfant qui voulait dormir (2005), Anglaid (2009), Les Bouctouches (2009) and 65 mesures pour améliorer le Québec (2011). In 2007, he also produced a record called Tu zappes ta vie. His entry in the political world starts in 2009, when he runs for mayor of Montreal as an independent. This year, he will be accompanied by a team of 15 candidates.

Image Source: brulealamairie.brulemedia.com/

Platform

While maintaining that he wants to have « one hand to the left and one hand to the right », Michel Brûlé suggests the following:

1. Centralisation of the power and simplification of the call for offers process;
2. Elimination of district mayor offices and reducing the number of elected members from 103 to 31;
3. Reserve a greater place to public culture and art; and
4. Free public transit for the elderly and parents accompanied by young children;

He also approves the installation of tolls on Montreal bridges, would like to make sure that all the bicycles get GPS to reduce theft and would repair 1000 kilometers of the road every year.

Coalition Montréal

Recently formed, the Coalition Montreal party has Marcel Côté at its head and includes, notably, newly independant elected members of the city of Montreal and members of the Vision Montréal party, headed by Louise Harel. Born in 1942, Marcel Côté spent his youth in the mining city of Malartic, in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Physics from the University of Ottawa and a Master of Science in Economics from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Professor first, he then administered the SECOR management council, which he also cofounded. He worked as an advisor to former Prime Minister of Quebec Robert Bourassa (Liberal party) and as director of strategic planning of former Prime Minister of Canada Brian Mulroney (Conservative party). He continues to act as an advisor to businesses from here and overseas. Intersted in technological and regional development, he participated to the writing of multiple books, including Innovation Reinvented (2012), Une métropole à la hauteur de nos aspirations (Rapport Côté-Séguin, 2010), Le Rêve de la terre promise (2004) and If Québec goes… The Real Cost of Separation(1995). He was co-president of a working group on the stakes of taxation and governance in Montreal, was president of the governing board of the Montreal YMCA and the Fondation du Grand Montréal and is actually sitting as an administrator on the boards of the following organizations: Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Les Amis de la montagne, Festival Montréal en Lumière, Action Canada, Fondation NeuroScience du Canada, société minière Osisko and Empire Limitée (Sobeys). He was also administrator of the Imagine Canada councils, the Institut de recherche en politique publique (IRPP) and the Forum des politiques publiques and takes part in the Table d’action en entreprenariat de Montréal. He announced he was running for mayor on July 3rd of this year.

Image Source: marcelcote.ca/en/

Platform

Coalition Montreal has the following slogan: « c’est le temps d’agir ». The party’s orientations, which include ethics as a priority, include 100 actions which are gathered in 20 promises, including:

1. Reform of the executive committee and inaugural of a counter-power;
2. Hiring of an ethics commissioner;
3. Simplification of the administrative process and reform of the higher governing boards;
4. Freezing the house taxes to the level of the inflation;
5. Keep young families in Montreal (construction of 2000 new houses/condos with three bedrooms and 15 000 social housing units on a 5-year period; allowing 5000 families to buy property);
6. Improvement of the public transit system; and
7. Reinforce Montreal’s status as a cultural, economical and sports metropolis,(enlarge the access to the Saint-Laurent river in the Old Port, at Pointe-aux-Trembles and in the South-West.);

Le Vrai changement pour Montréal

Le Vrai changement pour Montréal was founded by Mélanie Joly, its leader. She has a law degree from Université de Montréal, where she served as president of her student society. She becomes a member of the Quebec Bar in 2002, to then complete a masters in European Law at Oxford University, in England. After working as a lawyer at the Stikeman Elliott office, she had an internship as a journalist at Radio-Canada, then occupying the position of associate director in public relations at Cohn & Wolfe from 2009 to 2013. Between 2008 and 2013, she sits on various governing boards, including the Régie des Rentes du Québec, the Cercle canadien, the Entrepreneur Organization (EO), the Conseil supérieur de la langue française and the comité national du Gala des Prix du Gouverneur général pour les arts du spectacle. Melanie Joly was also involved with Montreal institutions such as the Fondation du CHUM, the Musée d’art contemporain, the Festival Bach de Montréal and the Association du Village Shaughnessy, on top of participating in the creation of Génération d’idées and M-19, two groups that foster political thinking. She received the Arnold Edinborough prize in 2009, rewarding her philanthropic implication in Canadian culture and arts. During the last race for the new head of the Liberal Party, she was chief-organiser of Trudeau’s campaign in the province of Quebec. She will present a team of 14 candidates for the 2013 municipal elections.

Platform

Keeping public transit as a priority, the Le Vrai changement pour Montréal platform follows the following principles:

1. Construction of 130 km of fast serving bus lines (FSB);
2. Open and transparent date (free access to data and content of the City’s official documents.);
3. Operation 30 000 families (construction of housing in sectors of the city that would be family-friendly.);
4. Prudence and quality in the distribution of contracts (abolition of the lower-cost rule and give the contracts a guarantee of 10 years of quality/durability.);
5. Make Montreal greener (develop the green side of the city by planting 300 000 new trees in the next four years);
6. Fighting social exclusion (decent roofs for the less fortuned and improvement of the buildings’ salubrity);
7. Rejuvenation of the greater commercial arteries (extension of opening hours of stores, making Sainte-Catherine street accessible only by foot and and promotion of the Montreal nightlife);
8. Making citizen intiative more dynamic and appropriation of public spaces by art; and
9. Single window approach for businesses (simplification of rules; facilitation of the obtention of information and attribution of permits and authorizations);

Équipe Denis Coderre

The Équipe Denis Coderre was created in parallel to the announcement of chief, Denis Coderre, in May 2013. He was born July 25th 1963, in Joliette. He has a bachelor’s degree in Science from Université de Montréal, as well as a master in business administration from the University of Ottawa. He was a member of a few organizations including Club optimiste of Montréal-Nord, the Student Association of his high school, the Club Richelieu as well as the Société d’histoire et de généalogie of Montréal-Nord. During his professional career, he was elected in the Bourassa county for the Liberal Party of Canada for 6 terms, while he had before been a part of the Comité des jeunes libéraux de Bourassa and the Association libérale du comté de Bourassa. First Secretary of State in Amateur Sports, he was then minister of Citizenship and Immigration, president of the Queens’ Private Council, federal interlocutor for the Metis and non-registered Native Americans, responsible of the Francophones and of the Canadian Bureau for the settlements of the residential schools, as well as special advisor to the Prime Minister for Haiti. He was also involved in some more specific affairs, like the establishment of the social bureau of the Agence mondiale antidopage of Montreal, the bill on immigration and protection of refugees, the set-up of measures striving to create rules for immigrant consultation, etc. He was also named Commander of the Ordre de la Pléiade of the Canadian section of the Assemblée Parlementaire de la Francophonie.

Image Source: equipedeniscoderre.com

Platform

1. Improve public transportation (expansion of the reserved roads, prolongation of the metro, construction of 50km of cycling paths);
2. Implement mobile intelligence (implement a global intelligent transportation system);
3. Review the administration of parking (transfer the responsibility of parking in Montreal to the STM, transform the existing parking downtown into underground parking);
4. Implement a new position of general inspector who has the power of investigation and punishment;
5. Bring together the strengths of the cultural milieu (Develop an action plan adapted to the needs of each district; promote Montreal’s 375th, the 150th of Confederation, and the 50th of Expo 67; enhance the network of cultural centres, libraries the Access Culture network; promote Agenda 21 for culture, etc…);
6. Montreal, Cultural Metropolis (2007 – 2017 action plan; development of the Quartier des spectacles; Create the role of Economic Development Commissioner dedicated to culture; review Montreal’s brand image; develop a Montreal Cultural Ambassadors program, etc.);

Notes:

1. For some candidates, the platforms are not complete. This article will be updated throughout the campaign.
2. The content of this article is mainly drawn from the personal bigraphies of the candidates and information published in the media.