The Quebec Liberals unveiled their latest star candidate on Tuesday, this one a prominent businessman who will run in the West Island riding of Nelligan.
Monsef Derraji currently serves as CEO of the Youth Chamber of Commerce in Quebec and prior worked for over a decade in the pharmaceutical industry.
Nelligan is currently the riding of Public Safety Minister Martin Coiteux, who also holds the portfolio overseeing Montreal. In April, Coiteux announced he wouldn’t seek reelection.
The riding is a longtime Liberal stronghold and Coiteux received 80 per cent of the vote in the 2014 provincial election.
Derraji said promoting new modes of transportation in the largely suburban riding would be a major focus of his campaign.
“I have the same problem, me and my wife. I work downtown, it’s not easy to go downtown,” he said. “But now, we have on the table a solution in the REM (light rail). It’s part of a big plan to promote mobility on the West Island.”
With the announcement, the Jacques-Cartier riding becomes the sole riding without a Liberal candidate yet announced. That seat has been held by Liberal Geoff Kelley since 1994, but in April, Kelley said he would not seek another term.
An announcement on a new candidate for Jacques-Cartier is expected to be held later this week.
