A day after a well-known NDG city councillor announced his intention to run for the NDP in the next election, two more contenders have stepped up.

Former head of the Old Brewery Mission James Hughes and former Montreal Gazette journalist Sue Montgomery are now both in the running for the NDP nomination in the new Notre Dame de Grace–Westmount riding.

Hughes is currently the president of the Montreal-based Graham Boeckh Foundation, which helps fund initiatives related to mental health. He has also served as deputy minister of social development in New Brunswick. He says he believes his alignment with social service-related causes makes him a good match with Thomas Mulcair's NDP.

"[The party will] choose someone who’s passionate about important issues to our community, including transport, housing, poverty, health care and ecology, those are very important to me and I’ve demonstrated service over the years in those very areas," he said.

He said his experience running large organizations and a government office has also prepared him for life as a politician.

Montgomery left the Gazette earlier this year and was one of the driving forces behind the #BeenRapedNeverReported social media phenomenon. The hashtag was used mainly by people who had been raped and never went to authorities who shared their stories in the days after news of the Jian Ghomeshi scandal broke.

Montgomery said after years of being angry with the current government and being upset with “the fact that our democracy is eroded,” she wanted to see if she could effect change.

“I think we need strong women voices in Ottawa, I think I have that, and if Rwanda, for example, can have 50 per cent of their MPs be women, I think it’s high time Canada does the same,” she said.

There are presently eight people in the running for the nomination, something Montgomery says is exciting and shows "a lot of people are interested in the future of our country."

Liberal Marc Garneau currently holds the seat for Westmount—Ville Marie, which includes part of what is now Notre Dame de Grace–Westmount. The riding comprises parts of Montreal West and parts of the Cote des Neiges–Notre Dame de Grace and Ville Marie boroughs.

Garneau is expected to run again, but it was a tight race in 2011; the Liberals won the seat by only 642 votes over the NDP.