If the door of the town hall of Montreal-North closed last Sunday for Will Prosper, the activist and documentary maker remains interested in politics. He does not hide his interest in the next provincial elections, which will take place in 2022.
The defeat was unequivocal for the star candidate of Projet Montreal in Montreal-North. At the end of 52 days of campaigning, Will Prosper collected 29.29% of the vote, against 64.24% for the candidate of Ensemble Montreal Christine Black, who thus obtained a third term at the head of this borough. All the elected officials of this district are also from the party of Denis Coderre, who announced Friday his departure from political life.
“We didn’t expect a gap like that,” Prosper told the To have to Thursday, while acknowledging that Montreal-North is “a stronghold” of the formation founded by Denis Coderre in 2013. Despite the low voting intentions he collected last Sunday, the documentary filmmaker says he is “very proud” of the campaign active activity that he carried out in his borough.
“What I saw was that people in Montreal North and outside, too, felt that there was something new. I am not a typical politician, to be sure. We brought a wind of change and people rallied to that, ”he believes.
“Politics always interests me”
Once the dust of these elections is completely settled, the founder of the organization Hoodstock plans to continue working on his documentary projects and to promote, as an activist, various issues that are dear to him, especially in terms of housing, public transport and greening, he lists. “You are sure to see me again,” he laughs.
As for his interest in politics, it remains keen, despite his recent defeat. Mr. Prosper does not rule out trying his luck again in provincial politics in the context of the general election of 2022.
“I’m still interested in politics, I’ll say it frankly. Honestly, I think I do well in this arena. I’m not a typical politician and I think people need this. We need to have a wind of change, not to have the same type of politician as what we see elsewhere, ”believes the 47-year-old man, who proudly declares himself to come from“ the activist milieu ”.
In 2012, Will Prosper tried his luck in provincial politics as a candidate for Québec solidaire in the district of Bourassa-Sauvé, to no avail. The Montrealer notes, however, that patience is required in this environment. Manon Massé, he recalls, had to wait for her fifth electoral attempt before being finally elected in 2014 as a solidarity member of Sainte-Marie-Saint-Jacques, where she still occupies this seat.
Mr. Prosper thus confirms his interest in the provincial elections of 2022. “I’m looking at that,” he says. The Montrealer nevertheless specifies that he has not been approached so far by any political party in the National Assembly.
Defamation
Will Prosper is also studying the possibility of suing Mr. Coderre for defamation for remarks he made about him during the municipal election campaign and which would have damaged his reputation. The leader of Ensemble Montréal has returned on several occasions in recent weeks to the murky circumstances which led to the resignation of Mr. Prosper from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in the early 2000s, after he consulted a register without authorization while he was a gendarme for the federal police.
“I am trying to see if there is grounds for defamation because he said quite serious things”, confirms the activist, who deplores that Mr. Coderre has associated him with “street gangs” in some of his interventions during the electoral campaign. “It is sure that it plays in the heads of people, especially when there is insecurity, so that is why I speak of campaign of fear”, adds Mr. Prosper, especially since the public security had emerged as one of the main issues in anticipation of this election.
Mr. Prosper also believes that his electoral defeat last Sunday is linked to the very low participation rate of young people in municipal elections in Montreal-North.
“It has an impact on the policies that are put in place. There is really a democratic model where we are all currently losing, ”he adds.
In all, about 33.5% of voters voted in this borough this year, compared to just over 38% across Montreal, which recorded a particularly low turnout this year.