Denis Coderre and Valérie Plante pledged not to increase property taxes for Montrealers beyond inflation on Monday evening as part of a debate before the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal.
The two candidates have crossed swords on economic issues for the first time since the start of the campaign. Mr. Coderre posed as an ally of Montreal Inc., while the outgoing mayor Plante put forward his attachment to small businesses. She also underlined the caution that the City must show in its relations with real estate developers.
The two candidates agree on one point, however: Montrealers will not see their property tax bills increase faster than inflation over the next four years, no matter who takes over as mayor.
Firm commitment
Valérie Plante had already announced this commitment: “the answer is yes”. But his sincerity was questioned by his opponent: in 2018, a similar promise was broken by the administration of Projet Montreal. “It’s the first thing they did,” attacked Denis Coderre.
Mr. Coderre affirmed that he would make an announcement in matters of taxation between now and the poll, but that “it is sure that we will not go beyond inflation”. The mayor, however, argued that property taxes on residential real estate increased more during her predecessor’s tenure than during her own. “I understand it’s disturbing to realize that,” she tackled.
The former mayor of Montreal added that the City’s expenses should however be reduced significantly to ease the burden on taxpayers, who finance an ever-growing payroll. “We need to reorganize. […] You have to do it in the right way, ”he said.
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, THE PRESS
Denis Coderre, conductor of Ensemble Montréal
Called to clarify his thoughts at a press briefing, he did not want to commit to reducing the number of City employees. “We will regain control of spending and the budget,” he said during the debate. I don’t want us to be under Quebec supervision. ”
Valérie Plante defended the massive investments made by Montreal in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, arguing that all public authorities had acted in this way to support the economy.
In a statement released after the debate, the Chamber of Commerce, however, criticized the candidates for their lack of clarity about the costs of their new commitments. “This question is all the more critical given that the tax burden on businesses and citizens of Montreal is already among the highest in North America,” said Michel Leblanc, president of the organization.
Distance or proximity to promoters
The two main candidates for mayor of Montreal were questioned by journalist Esther Bégin on subjects dear to the heart of the Chamber of Commerce. The organization has made no secret of the general opinion of its members regarding the municipal bureaucratic apparatus: slow, inconsistent and too rigid.
These are criticisms that Denis Coderre has taken on his own to qualify the four years of Valérie Plante at the head of the metropolis. In his opinion, the outgoing municipal administration stood out for its amateurism and its hesitation in the face of major structuring projects.
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, THE PRESS
Valérie Plante, Head of Project Montreal
“We need to have an administration that understands and knows what economic development is,” attacked the former mayor, adding that his opponents “are not managers”. We must “not be afraid to talk to the promoters,” he added. “They should not be ignored. ”
Exactly, Denis Coderre is perhaps too close to these entrepreneurs, attacked Mr.me Plant. The importance he gives to his personal network of contacts in the business world, “this is an example of old politics: I scratch your back, you scratch my back, whatever the background”. “Me, I talk to everyone. Everyone, ”she added in a press briefing after the debate.
“Boost the supply” of housing
Basically, the candidates presented fundamentally different approaches to tackling a problem that everyone recognizes is real: the housing crisis.
Valérie Plante wants more supervised real estate development, with 60% of social, affordable or family housing in each project: this is the objective of a regulation that her administration had adopted several months ago and which serves as a standard. to his campaign.
The outgoing mayor also said she wanted projects that were better integrated into their community. “A project, when it happens, it doesn’t happen in a potato field,” she said. I am not prepared to hand over the keys to the city to real estate developers. […] If the deregulation advocated by my opponent had worked during his tenure, we would not have a housing crisis right now. ”
Denis Coderre summed up in a few words his approach to the crisis: “We must have density, we must boost the offer. The candidate for mayor notably wants to see 20,000 housing units rise from the ground in Cité-du-Havre, where a complete quay would be transformed into a new district. He also hopes to promote the transformation of unused office space into housing.