A new poll shows incumbent Denis Coderre with a strong lead in the upcoming Montreal mayoral election, but members of Projet Montreal said they’re not worried.
Sue Montgomery, Projet Montreal’s nominee for mayor in Cote-Des-Neiges-NDG, said the numbers don’t reflect how fed up Montrealers are with the current mayor and his big-ticket projects like the 375th anniversary celebrations and Formula E race.
“What’s he getting done?” said the former Montreal Gazette journalist. “He’s spending more money on things people don’t particularly want. He’s spent a billion dollars on this birthday party.”
As it stands, the numbers are bleak for Coderre’s opponents, despite any controversies. An early June Leger poll, commissioned by Projet Montreal, showed 43 per cent of Montrealers intend to vote for Coderre on Nov. 5, 11 points more than Coderre garnered in 2013.
In the poll, 29 per cent of respondents said they planned to vote for Projet Montreal leader Valerie Plante.
Plante, however, said with the campaign not officially beginning until the end of September, it’s too soon to start writing an obit for her party’s chances.
“Based on the interest we’re getting, we’re ready to win it all,” she said. “I especially want to become the first woman mayor of Montreal and I’m really confident about this.”
Plante said the party is hoping to cut Coderre’s lead by focusing on a grassroots approach to campaigning.
“This means listening and adapting our projects to what people really want to have,” she said.
At a recent nomination meeting in NDG, newly-minted Projet Montreal member James Bugden said that despite never being involved in local politics before, he felt moved to volunteer for the party.
“They seem to be doing things that are evidence-based,” he said. “They have ideas that they don’t create in a vacuum and that respond to actual needs.”
