Activist Will Prosper to run for mayor of Montreal North with Projet Montreal

Will Prosper holds a news conference in Montreal, on Wednesday, August 1, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

MONTREAL -

Well-known Montreal activist and filmmaker Will Prosper is running for mayor of Montreal North.

Prosper announced Wednesday morning he’ll run for the job under the Projet Montréal banner.

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante was on hand for the announcement, saying residents of Montreal North are tired of the status quo and what she calls a ‘top-down’ approach from the politicians in power.

Christine Black currently serves as mayor of Montreal North under mayoral candidate Denis Coderre’s Ensemble Montreal banner.

Plante says she believes Prosper is the right candidate to build a grassroots movement that fights for the needs of residents in the borough.

A former police officer, Prosper grew up in Montreal North and says young people in his community are still facing the same issues he and his brothers faced when they were kids.

“It’s hard for me to say it, and it pains me to say, but the lack of self-confidence is something you see in this community. It’s something that I was dealing with all these years," he said. "I had the potential just to be a director, I had the potential to be an elected official, we have so much potential, but we live in a community where we break the dreams of these youths and it’s time to open up these dreams and make sure that people realize their full potential.”

Prosper has been critical of Plante in the past, but says he decided to join Projet Montréal because he says the mayor showed him she is willing to invest time and energy in the borough.