The municipal campaign in Montreal was rich in twists and turns, heated exchanges, attacks, promises, debates and press briefings.
We have to admit one thing, the candidates worked very hard. My colleagues who have followed this race will agree with me: it was impressive to see that.
As we are at the last few meters separating us from the finish line, here are some highlights that I take away from this long and exhausting campaign.
The scandal hunt
At the beginning of June, a few hours apart, Denis Coderre and Valérie Plante were caught out for different reasons: the first with a phone in his hand in the car, the second on a terrace with four people. not living at the same address (whereas the regulations at that time allowed a maximum of two people living at different addresses). If Denis Coderre was slow to provide explanations, Valérie Plante immediately recognized his error. It should be remembered from these “mini-scandals” that the photos were taken by citizens. The two candidates, if they still doubted it, learned that public figures are today hunted everywhere and at all times. Quebec has always stayed away from the phenomenon of the paparazzi. It makes up for it today in another way.
The closet is overflowing
Any good election campaign has its share of skeletons that the media, the public or opposing parties like to wield. At the end of this campaign, it is difficult to close the closet door because it is so full. If Ali Nestor (presented as a special advisor to Denis Coderre), Joe Ortona and Dan Kraft were invited to leave Ensemble Montreal’s ship, the chef nevertheless defended Antoine Richard and Dimitra Kostarides. For her part, Valérie Plante had to weather the storm when the Will Prosper affair broke. She also lost a faithful advisor, Craig Sauvé, at the end of the course. After all this, there is reason to wonder about the background check processes of applicants. But also on the way in which people who embark on the path of municipal politics perceive what is correct and what is not.
Repeating a scenario
It will be interesting to compare the latest polls with the results that the candidates will obtain on Sunday. But in general, it is fascinating to see that we witnessed the same scenario as in 2017. Starting far behind Denis Coderre last June (there was a gap of 16 percentage points), Valérie Plante made a comeback that placed her neck and neck with her opponent at the end of September. We can obviously believe that the reasons for these two increases are very different. But this is a great subject for university researchers.
The failed marriage
The merger of the Ralliement pour Montréal and Mouvement Montréal parties at the beginning of October was one of the big surprises of this campaign. The press conference which marked the union of Balarama Holness and Marc-Antoine Desjardins had everything to suggest that a third voice (which was sorely lacking in this campaign) was emerging. But the failed agreement on the issue of bilingual status for Montreal (advocated by Holness) led straight to collapse. A few days ago, Marc-Antoine Desjardins published a message on Facebook which leaves no doubt as to how the one he describes as a “monumenteur” completely fooled him. For his part, Holness sought visibility with the media throughout the campaign. He at least achieved that goal.
I debate, you debate, they debate …
The campaign which is coming to an end has generated a record number of debates. A dozen meetings brought together the main candidates, Valérie Plante and Denis Coderre, and, sometimes, Balarama Holness. This “rematch” obviously had everything to seduce the public and satiate the media. So why deprive yourself of such duels? The too many debates, however, ended up wearing down the candidates who repeated the same things over and over again. As for the voters, they learned little of value from these exchanges which often consisted of “And you, what will you do?” »We can’t wait to think about how to control these too many invitations.
Régis and Valérie
What an astonishing (and touching) declaration from the mayor of Quebec, Régis Labeaume, who did not hesitate to describe Valérie Plante as a “friend” as he prepares to bow out. Let us recall that the mayoress of Montreal had given him her help in the tramway project in Quebec (the mayoress had consented that the envelope of 800 million reserved for Montreal by the federal government be transferred to Quebec). “At the beginning, Valérie was very suspicious because Denis [Coderre] always said that we almost slept together, ”Régis Labeaume told my colleague Gabriel Béland. “This woman, what she did, she did with good heart and fairness. I will never forget that. Good prince, this Régis Labeaume!
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So we are finally at the voting stage.
It is difficult to predict the turnout for this election. Last weekend, during the advance poll, it was 13%, which is not bad at all. But citizens had two days to vote and had more polling stations than usual.
It would be extraordinary to exceed the meager 42% turnout of the last elections.
But after several months of campaigning, the citizens of the largest city in Quebec find themselves in a curious situation: they are faced with two star candidates who have ideas, after all, very similar.
Apart from the housing policy, where the candidates have different objectives, they propose almost twin measures. Obviously, each of the two candidates strategically wanted to play on the other’s ground.
This forces the citizens that we are to make a choice based… on the personality of the candidates.
In this sense, this electoral campaign is resolutely of its time.
NB – Good weather is announced all weekend. So, trot to your polling station. We’ll talk about all this again on Monday!