Projet Montreal was on track to win 10 of the 19 borough town halls in Montreal, according to election results at around 1:15 a.m. This is almost the same result as in the 2017 elections, when Valérie Plante’s party won 11 district town halls.
The race was particularly close for the town hall of the borough of Outremont, where it was still impossible to declare a winner in the early hours of the morning. After 58 of the 59 polling stations had been counted, Ensemble Montréal’s candidate Laurent Desbois was just 22 votes ahead of the outgoing mayor, Philipe Tomlinson, of Projet Montréal. This result will possibly be recounted.
If Projet Montreal’s defeat in Outremont was confirmed, Valérie Plante’s party would have 10 borough mayors and control 10 of Montreal’s 19 borough councils. If Projet Montréal managed to keep Outremont, it would control 11 boroughs.
Projet Montréal won in two boroughs, in Verdun and Rivière-des-Prairies – Pointe-aux-Trembles (it won this town hall during a partial in 2018, but Ensemble Montréal controlled the borough council).
Sue Montgomery, fourth in CDN-NDG
Small disappointment in an evening full of celebrations for Projet Montréal: the town hall of the borough of Côte-des-Neiges – Notre-Dame-de-Grâce (CDN-NDG), where the Plante administration is in conflict with the former -Mayor Sue Montgomery since January 2020.
At the time of publication (284 polling stations out of 299), Ensemble Montreal candidate Lionel Perez led with 37.7% of the vote, just ahead of Projet Montreal candidate Gracia Kasoki Katahwa (36.9% of voice). A difference of 235 votes separated the two candidates. Radio-Canada declared Mr. Perez the winner. ” [Les citoyens] wanted to avoid at all costs the drama that there has been with the current administration. [Ils] felt neglected and ignored. They expect their elected officials to put the borough’s priorities forward, ”said Lionel Perez, official opposition leader on city council for four years.
Elected as CDN-NDG borough mayor under the colors of Projet Montréal in 2017, Mme Montgomery was expelled from the party caucus in January 2020 for failing to maintain a “harassment-free” work climate among borough employees. A legal saga followed that has cost Montreal taxpayers $ 600,000 so far. Sunday, Mme Montgomery finished fourth (9.7% of the vote), behind Mouvement Montreal candidate Matthew Kerr (11.1%).
PHOTO CATHERINE LEFEBVRE, ARCHIVES SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Sue Montgomery, disappointed candidate for mayor of Côte-des-Neiges – Notre-Dame-de-Grâce
“I am not disappointed. I am very proud of my team, and of myself. We had a very positive campaign, we created a diverse team and we tried to do something new in municipal politics. The residents have spoken, ”said Mme Montgomery, who intends to continue to defend his reputation in his litigation before the courts against the City. “Mme Plante hurt my reputation. It’s unfortunate, ”she added.
Projet Montréal has, however, taken over the town hall of Villeray – Saint-Michel – Parc-Extension, lost during its mandate when the party had expelled the mayoress of the borough Giuliana Fumagalli because of inappropriate behavior in the workplace. Laurence Lavigne Lalonde, of Projet Montréal, was elected new mayoress of Villeray, ahead of Guillaume Lavoie, ex-candidate for the leadership of Projet Montréal in 2016 (he had narrowly lost to Valérie Plante), who was making a comeback in politics with the party of Denis Coderre. “People believe in our vision of focusing on neighborhood life and the daily lives of citizens rather than on the big projects that flash,” said Laurence Lavigne Lalonde.
Project Montreal sweep in Verdun
Valérie Plante’s party also made a profit at Verdun Borough Hall, where Marie-Andrée Mauger defeated Antoine Richard, Ensemble Montréal candidate and real estate broker who hit the headlines during the campaign because of his operations. real estate sales-purchase (flips). Projet Montréal won all seven seats on the Verdun borough council (compared to three in 2017). “We knew that more and more citizens were discovering Projet Montréal’s vision. That [l’affaire des flips] may have encouraged some people to take a closer look at our record, ”said Mr.me Mauger.
Despite her decision to close the marina to transform it into a public park, Maja Vodanovic, of Projet Montréal, was re-elected with an advance of 2,850 votes as mayor of the borough of Lachine.
Émilie Thuillier (Ahuntsic-Cartierville), Pierre Lessard-Blais (Mercier – Hochelaga-Maisonneuve), Luc Rabouin (Plateau-Mont-Royal), Caroline Bourgeois (Rivière-des-Prairies – Pointe-aux-Trembles), Benoit Dorais (South -Ouest) and François Limoges (Rosemont – La Petite-Patrie) were also elected to borough town halls for Projet Montréal. Elected mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante automatically sits as mayor of the borough of Ville-Marie.
Seven borough mayors for Ensemble Montréal
For its part, Ensemble Montreal, party of Denis Coderre, was in the process of electing seven borough mayors.
In Montreal-North, Christine Black defeated activist Will Prosper (Projet Montreal), who had to contend during the campaign with the controversy of his resignation from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in 2001 because he was suspected of having provided information to members of street gangs.
Jim Beis (Pierrefonds-Roxboro), Alan DeSousa (Saint-Laurent) and Michel Bissonnet (Saint-Léonard) were re-elected for Ensemble Montréal. At the time of publication, Stéphane Côté (L’Île-Bizard – Sainte-Geneviève) and Lionel Perez (CDN-NDG) were on their way to winning. And Laurent Desbois still had his thin lead of 22 votes in Outremont.
As in the 2017 elections, independent candidates took over the city halls of Anjou (Luis Miranda, reelected) and LaSalle (Nancy Blanchet, elected).