Would you live in a house or condo with a view of the REM within 40 feet of your windows?
Clotilde Seille
Denis Coderre: If it’s a signature project, yes. I lived 45 years in Montreal-Nord and we have always been the poor parents of mobility. […] The difference between REM 1 and REM 2 is that with REM 1 there was less density. There, we go straight into it. But I won’t be in the waiting room to say one day that I am for and the next that I am against. I will make sure that we are one of the full partners.
How is the redevelopment of parking spaces in rue de Bellechasse (instead of REV Bellechasse) in line with the current environmental issues of the fight against global warming and the reduction of the Montreal vehicle fleet in order to promote mobility? more durable and active?
Mélanie Morin, La Petite-Patrie
DC: First of all, I am in favor of the electrification of transport, and we have an action plan to fight solo cars. But there are always going to be cars. There is a question of security, there is a question of traders and there is a question of reality on the ground. […] I say to myself: what are we doing for the elderly? What are we doing for pedestrians? There is a security issue. There is just an anti-car party in Montreal and it’s Projet Montreal. We are all provelers.
Mr. Coderre, are you ready to make a public commitment not to use Montreal taxpayers’ money to finance your dream of a new Montreal Expos stadium?
Carlo Tarin
DC: It was never about putting money [public] in the stadium, even the investors have said so. My priorities are safety, it’s the fact that this city needs cleanliness and that it needs people to be taken care of. There are too many people left behind. The ball is in Quebec, so we will let the relief pitcher, Mr. François Legault, take care of the file.
If you lose your election, will you stay in opposition for the next four years or will you leave as you have already done?
Maryse Legault
DC: I said I want to stay. I am not sick [comme en 2017].
Do you promise to be leader of the official opposition for four years in the event of a defeat? A question to be answered with a simple YES or NO.
Laurence Hamelin
DC: I am here to win. Honestly, I’m not even in the mood to lose.
I live in Montreal North and my greatest insecurity is related to road safety, not firearms. It is when I travel by bike or on foot that I feel in danger. We lowered the permitted speeds, but nothing has changed. What are you proposing to actually enforce speed limits on our residential streets?
Yvan Lajoie
DC: There will be dedicated funds for security and appeasement measures. But we also need to have mentality changes for cyclists. I have many, many complaints. I want us to have a strategy. The zero vision that we put in place in 2016 and which has been adopted is zero accidents, zero deaths. In this sense, we must always protect the most vulnerable. It also means having a better truck strategy. I think it’s important to have a delivery strategy. We did it with our own rolling stock. It is to work with the trucks to have a 360-degree camera. I want to have a truck top in the first 100 days. Pedestrians are afraid, the elderly are afraid.
The payroll of the City of Montreal has exploded in recent years. How do you plan to reduce this expenditure, which seems to me to be uncontrolled?
Aimay Depelteau
DC: We have reached $ 1.9 billion in the budget, I think, and that’s not counting the social benefits. We saw in the newspapers that many people earn $ 100,000 or more. In terms of the police, for example, there is a lot of overtime. We had a five-year manpower program in place at the time. We had reduced the number of employees by around 1,500. There, we increased it by 1,344. I have no intention of laying off workers, but we are going to tighten up spending. There will be an audit in the first three months. I will ask the Auditor General to provide a portrait of the real finances. I want to make sure that we do things differently and that we can consolidate certain services.
What’s your best idea for a “unique and spectacular” project that would put Montreal even more on the tourist map?
Jacques Haket
DC: We first want to bring back the level of attractiveness and the meaning of the metropolis. I am also very motivated by the revival of the east of Montreal and the green Silicon Valley. At some point, you have to stop reinventing the four-hole button. We had already set up a phytosynthesis process for decontamination. When we are going to have programs, we are going to spend the money. We’re not going to boast about having 100 million and spending just 8. Green Silicon Valley, it works for me.
Interview by Philippe Mercure
Note: The questions and answers have been slightly edited for ease of reading.
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