A defensive start to the electoral year for Mayor Bruno Marchand

A defensive start to the electoral year for Mayor Bruno Marchand
A defensive start to the electoral year for Mayor Bruno Marchand

Mayor Bruno Marchand began the electoral year on the defensive, forced to justify his administration’s posture for the Saint-Roch district, after another closure of a major business on Rue Saint-Joseph.

First a quick aside on the fact that the mayor began his first press scrum of 2025 by emphasizing the importance of the work of the media in our democracy. He should mention it to his right-hand man, Pierre-Luc Lachance, who really does not seem as aware of this importance.

Instead of answering questions from traditional media, the Saint-Roch councilor, who is also vice-president of the executive committee, hid behind social networks last week. We expect much better from the number two in Quebec City.

Whatever the case, the mayor defended himself yesterday from doing nothing for Saint-Roch, in response to the exit of Claude Villeneuve, leader of the opposition. The latter stated that “Bruno Marchand watches Saint-Roch burn while playing the harp. It’s not going well, but we smile, we look away and we act as if nothing happened.

Mr. Marchand promises an action plan “in a few weeks,” but he also says that he is still at the stage of meeting with merchants and stakeholders in the sector. We wonder why we waited three years before proceeding, since the problems in the sector have worsened with the pandemic.

Walk with François Legault

The mayor himself created high expectations during the 2021 election campaign, promising to revitalize commercial arteries and talking about zero homelessness.

He insists on the fact that Saint-Roch cannot be reduced to the problems of homelessness. That’s for sure, but we have to see about it, and his job includes continuing to put pressure on governments to get more help.

Hey, he should invite François Legault to go for a walk with him in Saint-Roch, like Jean-Paul L’Allier did with Jacques Parizeau when he had in mind the revitalization of the neighborhood.

In his book Heading towards a winning Quebec: the Saint-Laurent projectpublished in 2013, the current Prime Minister emphasized that the revitalization of the Saint-Roch district constituted a major legacy of Mr. L’Allier to the national capital.

“Thanks to him,” wrote Mr. Legault, “Quebec has found its city center.” I bet that the mayor could therefore find an attentive ear in the Prime Minister, if he found a way to make him his main interlocutor on the file.

Insufficient actions

Bruno Marchand may repeat the actions taken by the City in recent times, but it is clear that much more will be needed. It is one minute to midnight, and the idea is not to harm the merchants of Saint-Roch, of course, as the mayor and his right-hand man imply about the people who are sounding the alarm.

The idea is rather to help these traders and residents. They greatly need it, as expressed by the many testimonies that I have received since I launched cries from the heart for the neighborhood in columns, since October.

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