The identity of the person who will succeed outgoing mayor Valérie Plante will be known next March, at the end of a leadership race which will be officially launched in less than a month at Projet Montréal.
Posted at 10:53 a.m.
This was announced by the party executive on Friday, revealing the main dates to come in the coming months. First, the submission of applications will begin within three weeks, on December 9, and will be open until January 31, 2025.
To be eligible, candidates “will have to collect the signatures of 200 members, coming from at least 7 districts, with a minimum of 10 signatures in each of the districts”, affirms the training. It also requires a personal contribution to the party of $1,000 and the sum of $7,500 in donations collected, from the date of the official launch of the campaign.
Officially, the leadership race will begin on February 3, which means that debates could then be organized and that leadership aspirants will be able to hold mobilization activities. This electoral period will last almost a month and a half, culminating in polling day, March 15. The deadline for joining the party, in order to be able to vote as a member, has been set for February 13.
Interested parties
At the beginning of November, several elected representatives from Projet Montréal took advantage of the party’s annual conference to confirm their interest in taking over. This is particularly the case of the mayor of Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension, Laurence Lavigne-Lalonde, who, after three mandates, prided herself on “knowing the municipal machine” well.
Councilor Alia Hassan-Cournol indicated that she wanted to “go further”, and the head of town planning, Robert Beaudry, “does not close the door”.
Behind the scenes, several other elected officials are continuing the reflection, including the president of the executive committee, Luc Rabouin, the mayor of Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie, François Limoges, the mayor of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Gracia Kasoki Katahwa, and the mayor of Ahuntsic-Cartierville, Émilie Thuillier.
The director of the Sustainable Development Office at Polytechnique Montréal, Patrick Cigana, will be president of the electoral committee. He was already CEO of the party from 2011 to 2015, as well as campaign organizer in 2017. The director of business development at Fondaction, Véronique De Sève, will be vice-president.
“Projet Montréal is a strong party, in excellent financial and democratic health, which is full of talent. Our team is experienced, and the next generation is present. I am confident that our members will make the right choice to continue to carry our vision,” said the president of Projet Montréal, Marie-Eve Veilleux.
Few candidates in opposition
On the opposition side, the race for the leadership of Ensemble Montréal. Last week, however, the party rejected the only leadership candidate to have come forward so far, that of Younes El Moustir, a trained real estate broker who regularly comments on current affairs at QUB Radio. Furthermore, according to our information, former Liberal minister David Heurtel, whose name is circulating a lot behind the scenes to run for town hall, would have formally said no to the Ensemble Montréal troops in recent days. The deadline to apply has been set for December 15. Officially, the race for leadership of Ensemble Montréal will be launched on January 9, but the nomination convention will not take place until February 16. The campaign will last approximately five weeks, with two debates scheduled for the end of January.
With Tommy Chouinard, The Press
