Still looking for a leader, the opposition party at Montreal city hall is gradually reducing its debt, but still fails to attract as many donors as its rival, Mayor Valérie’s party. Plante, a year and a half before the municipal elections.
In 2023, Projet Montréal, which has a majority on the municipal council with 52 elected officials, collected $233,320 in donations and sales of membership cards, a little more than the previous year. The party therefore remains in a good financial position, with net assets of $690,940, still increasing, according to its financial statements filed Tuesday.
The party gained 570 new members while 2,103 citizens made donations.
“This new record shows, once again, that Montrealers believe in our ideas and are ready to support us financially to see them come to fruition. These financial results encourage us to continue our commitments to making Montreal an ever greener, fairer and more inclusive city,” said Valérie Plante in a press release.
For its part, Ensemble Montréal, which forms the official opposition to the municipal council with 37 elected officials, managed to raise $202,900 in donations and membership last year, a significant increase compared to $128,400 in 2022. It sold 573 membership cards and received donations from 1764 people.
But the former party of ex-mayor Denis Coderre is carrying a heavy debt of $347,400. This debt was $631,200 the previous year, but was reduced in particular thanks to a reimbursement of $211,000 from the Director General of Elections of Quebec.
“Our number of donors has increased, we feel that there is a certain enthusiasm for our party because many people are looking for an alternative to Projet Montréal,” rejoices the interim leader of Ensemble Montréal, Aref Salem, in an interview.
Mr. Salem adds that the party will soon make announcements about the leadership race and assures that many candidates are interested in becoming party leader. “But it is the members who will decide,” he said, adding that he himself does not intend “at this time” to be a candidate.
“What is important for me is to win the 2025 election,” he specifies.