More than ever, the current municipal campaign in Montreal is difficult to follow. It therefore does not seem surprising to me to learn from a survey that there are a large number of undecided people. And what will be the voter turnout rate?
Candidates for mayor have chosen to address citizens mainly through social networks and press briefings staged in front of a handful of journalists. However, in the news, the electoral campaign in Montreal is often overshadowed, occupying little airtime each evening; ditto in the context of public affairs programs. The number of newspaper columns is low. I rely on my district newspaper to learn more about the results of the outgoing local administration and the promises of the candidates. Door-to-door does not exist in our neighborhood, no documents left in mailboxes, except for the ballot as such.
The campaign seems to be taking place behind closed doors, by invitation, in front of a particular organization, in front of a group of young adults. It was on the Web, we learn the next day. The clientelism favored by the parties leaves the impression of excluding the over 65s, who are dangled with thin promises, namely free public transport in a distant day, more benches in parks, elevators in the metro and pedestrian crossings adapted to the rhythm of their steps.
Neither Plante nor Coderre seem to really care about the fate of retirees at the antipodes according to their income: either they live rather alone with meager means, or they resign themselves to living only among retirees in a private residence for the elderly in a an environment where they will feel more socially acceptable than in a city that revere youth and cyclists. And the icing on the cake is when another poll tells us that what older people want more than anything is a clean and safe city, right? Plante would attract the young, Coderre, the old, really?
Let’s not rely on televised debates. If the second takes place like the Face to face on LCN, a cacophonous rat race where nothing has actually been learned, old or young, Montrealers will wonder not for whom to vote, but for what.
And as an elderly person, I still do not know what my borough and my metropolis could do to become a community truly friendly to seniors who are not as useless, bulky and fragile as we think.