If elected, Denis Coderre will inject $ 30 million per year into “dedicated funds” to the boroughs. “No more borough will be left behind for reasons of partisanship,” he says.
His party, Ensemble Montreal, promises to create six segregated funds of $ 5 million. Each of them will be used to tackle “the appeasement of the streets, cleanliness, greening, upkeep of sidewalks, upkeep of parks. [ou] to the creation of dog parks ”. Currently, the 19 boroughs of Montreal share nearly $ 1 billion for their operating budget.
The choice of the projects selected for the allocation of these funds will be the responsibility of a new committee: the “Arrondissements and city-center consultation committee”. The candidate for mayor of Côte-des-Neiges – Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Lionel Perez, has been appointed to sit at its head. “The boroughs can count on our team to get their fair share and consider them experts in their fields of expertise,” said Mr. Perez.
The exact amounts granted may be adjusted according to the requests of the mayors of the boroughs. “Instead of starting to tell you that I am going to give you so many millions per fund, we will determine together, with all those who are elected, what we can do and how we can do it”, explained Denis. Coderre by promising a “governance model” guaranteeing more “accountability”.
“If things don’t go well, both politically and bureaucratically, there is a price to be paid. We are going to make everyone responsible, ”he said.
A monthly meeting will be scheduled between the city-center and the district town halls to ensure “dialogue” between the various officials.
At a press conference in front of Montreal city hall, Denis Coderre took the opportunity to tackle the Plante administration. “We went from a budget of $ 5.2 billion to $ 7 billion, and we don’t have more services. We spent wildly, […] but people want to know what will happen with the services themselves. “
On the defensive
The aspiring mayor also had to defend in front of journalists his candidate in Côte-des-Neiges, Dimitra Kostarides, caught up with a financial scandal. The day before, Press revealed that this aspiring borough councilor had been associated, in the early 2000s, with an investment firm whose savers claimed to be victims of fraud.
“We did all the checks. There is no problem. She will make an excellent chosen one, hammered Denis Coderre. “She hasn’t been charged with anything. She wasn’t convicted for anything. »The article of Press Note, however, that a lawsuit was filed against the former financial advisor and that this matter was settled out of court for $ 550,000.
The political opponents of the former mayor did not fail to reproach him for this candidacy. “It is worrying to see Mr. Coderre trivialize the drama experienced by the families who have been cheated by Mr.me Kostarides, that of vulnerable people and seniors who have lost all their savings by trusting him, ”Project Montreal press officer Catherine Cadotte said in a written communication. “It is even more worrying when the candidate for mayor suggests that the usual checks were carried out with rigor within his team. “
“She not only has my full confidence, but she also has the confidence of the people with whom she has worked,” underlined Denis Coderre, surrounded by his candidates for borough town halls.