Former Montreal mayoral candidate Balarama Holness promises new multicultural provincial party

Former candidate for Montreal mayor Balarama Holness is dipping his toe into provincial politics with the creation of a new party, Mouvement Québec.

He is expected to make an official announcement at the National Assembly Wednesday at 12 p.m.

"We want to be the party that represents all Quebecers, and particularly Montrealers, that feel like they have no representation at the National Assembly," he told CTV News.

His main focus: the economy, environment, housing and challenging "the elephant in the room" -- Bill 96, Quebec's revamped language law, and Bill 21, the province's secularism law.

"We're not targetting a specific party or a specific issue," Holness said. "It's that Montrealers say there's no political party that represents ethnic or linguistic minorities."

He says his plan is to go up against the governing Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) on its "mismanagement of the pandemic," as well as the Quebec Liberals (PLQ) for "overall lack of leadership."

"Mouvement Québec has to earn every vote and I think the Liberal government may have taken a lot of Montrealers for granted since its inception," Holness told CTV News. "And now they're going to have to earn votes."

LISTEN ON CJAD 800 RADIO: Balarama Holness gives his first live interview after announcing his new provincial political party

His focus, he says, is on garnering votes in the Greater Montreal area.

"What we're saying is very clear: a strong Montreal will strengthen the regions," he said when asked if he's worried about whether or not he'll be able to convince Quebecers across the province to vote for his party.

Despite receiving several racist and threatening messages during the 2021 Montreal municipal election, Holness, a former Montreal Alouette and activist, says he's "not concerned at all" about the kind of reception a multicultural, multilingual party may get province-wide.

Though the 38-year-old is stepping away from municipal politics, he says party Mouvement Montréal is in good hands and will announce an interim leader shortly.

"The municipal election was a tremendous success for us," he said. "We mobilized Montrealers and spoke to issues they care about. It's important to us to continue that movement."

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Mouvement Montréal finished third place with seven per cent of the vote in the 2021 municipal election.

Holness points out the goal was always to create a "multi-tiered" political movement -- and that's why he's heading to Quebec City.

The provincial election in Quebec is slated for Oct. 3.