Montreal mayoral debate centres on crime, climate change, and housing
Watch the video above for the full, 90-minute debate.
Sparks flew during Montreal's only English-language debate Thursday.
The debate, hosted by CTV's Mutsumi Takahashi and CBC's Debra Arbec, covered six topics: public safety, inclusion, the climate crisis, the economy, and housing.
PUBLIC SECURITY APPROACHES ARE 'ARCHAIC': HOLNESS
The first question came from Montreal resident Onica John, who’s cousin, Jannai Dopwell-Bailey, 16, was stabbed in broad daylight in the parking lot of the Programme Mile End school on Van Horne Avenue in the city’s Cote-des-Neiges neighbourhood last week.
She asked how the candidates planned to make the city safer from gun crime and gang-violence.
Incumbent Projet Montreal candidate Valerie Plante heralded the ELTA program, which was created to combat firearm trafficking during her time in power.
“I’ve spoken to the chief of police, he told me what the needs are,” said Plante during a post-debate press conference.
Police “are tired,” said Ensemble Montreal leader Denis Coderre, who promised to address what he called a staff shortage in police departments.
He vowed to hire 250 new police officers to increase the workforce to 4,800 across Montreal.
Both candidates faced criticism from Mouvement Montreal candidate Balarama Holness, who called their approaches to public safety “archaic.”
“There is an idea that we can invest in firearms and police to solve (this issue of crime),” said Holness. “That is not the correct solution.”
Holness said his public safety plan centres access to leisure and recreation activities for young people in “boroughs that have been underfunded for decades.”
Both Coderre and Plante agreed that community initiatives are an important part of preventing crime.
BIKE LANES: KILLED CYCLIST ‘WOULD NOT HAVE DIED’
Plante took aim at Coderre while talking about bike lanes on Saint-Denis St., saying that a cyclist who was struck and killed while Coderre was in office.
Mathilde Blais was struck by a crane truck in 2014 under the des Carrieres overpass while riding her bike to work.
Following the installation of a bike lane on Saint-Denis last November, Ghostbikes Montreal (Velo Fantome Montreal) wrote publicly that if the lanes had come sooner, Blais would still be alive today.
Plante carried that sentiment to the debate floor Thursday.
“Under your administration,” Plante said to Coderre, “if you had done something realistic on Saint-Denis, Mathilde Blais would not have died.”
“I’m not saying you’re responsible.”
“That’s an extremely low blow,” Holness chimed from across the stage. “You just blamed a death on Coderre.”
‘WE NEED TO DO A BETTER JOB’: HOUSING
Facing questions on Montreal’s housing crisis, all candidates agreed on two things: that Montrealers deserve an affordable place to live, and that they were the only candidate who could deliver it.
Holness said housing was “at the core” of Mouvement’s platform, vowing to address the needs of the 24,000 people waiting for social housing, where rent is determined based on a person's income.
Under the 2021 municipal budget, 2.9 per cent the city’s $6.17 billion fund was allocated to social housing and similar expenses.
Mouvement Montreal wants to gradually increase that funding each year to a maximum of 11 per cent.
READ MORE: 'It's a real catastrophe': Demonstrators demand social housing
Plante highlighted her plans to introduce a responsible landlord certificate in an effort to enforce transparency with regards to rent increases and to limit renovictions.
“There are amazing landlords around the island,” she said, adding that the plan aims to identify "the ones that are not doing a good job."
"We’re going to be after them,” she said.
She also raised the issue of so-called “housing flips,” where people buy a building and sell it quickly, usually for more money, as a “huge problem” in the city.
According to a July report from the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation, about 8,840 Greater-Montreal properties were resold within 12 months of sale since the beginning of 2016 to the first quarter of 2021.
Most of those were single-family homes, accounting for about 53 per cent. Condos made up for 36 per cent, and 11 per cent were plexes.
“Flips are a huge problem,” said Plante. “People get affordable housing, they flip it, and then it's gone. I want to stop that.”
“We need to do a better job,” said Coderre, who said that Montreal has the tools it needs to combat the housing crisis under it’s empowered “metropolis” status – a title given to the city by a unanimous provincial vote while Coderre was in office.
“I would suggest that we would create an impact investment fund for social housing,” said Coderre, pledging $25 million from the city and an invitation to philanthropic, union, and private investors to contribute.
Advance voting in the election will take place this Saturday and Sunday (Oct. 30 and Oct. 31), and regular voting will be the following Saturday and Sunday (Nov. 6 and Nov. 7).
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
DEVELOPING Man sets self on fire outside New York court where Trump trial underway
A man set himself on fire on Friday outside the New York courthouse where Donald Trump's historic hush-money trial was taking place as jury selection wrapped up, but officials said he did not appear to have been targeting Trump.
BREAKING Sask. father found guilty of withholding daughter to prevent her from getting COVID-19 vaccine
Michael Gordon Jackson, a Saskatchewan man accused of abducting his daughter to prevent her from getting a COVID-19 vaccine, has been found guilty for contravention of a custody order.
She set out to find a husband in a year. Then she matched with a guy on a dating app on the other side of the world
Scottish comedian Samantha Hannah was working on a comedy show about finding a husband when Toby Hunter came into her life. What happened next surprised them both.
Mandisa, Grammy award-winning 'American Idol' alum, dead at 47
Soulful gospel artist Mandisa, a Grammy-winning singer who got her start as a contestant on 'American Idol' in 2006, has died, according to a statement on her verified social media. She was 47.
'It could be catastrophic': Woman says natural supplement contained hidden painkiller drug
A Manitoba woman thought she found a miracle natural supplement, but said a hidden ingredient wreaked havoc on her health.
Young people 'tortured' if stolen vehicle operations fail, Montreal police tell MPs
One day after a Montreal police officer fired gunshots at a suspect in a stolen vehicle, senior officers were telling parliamentarians that organized crime groups are recruiting people as young as 15 in the city to steal cars so that they can be shipped overseas.
The Body Shop Canada explores sale as demand outpaces inventory: court filing
The Body Shop Canada is exploring a sale as it struggles to get its hands on enough inventory to keep up with "robust" sales after announcing it would file for creditor protection and close 33 stores.
Vicious attack on a dog ends with charges for northern Ont. suspect
Police in Sault Ste. Marie charged a 22-year-old man with animal cruelty following an attack on a dog Thursday morning.
On federal budget, Macklem says 'fiscal track has not changed significantly'
Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem says Canada's fiscal position has 'not changed significantly' following the release of the federal government's budget.