Montreal municipal debate: Plante focuses on ecology, Coderre on international issues

MONTREAL -

Incumbent mayor Valérie Plante focused Wednesday on the environment and quality of life in Montreal, while former mayor Denis Coderre presented an international vision of the city, during the second debate of the municipal elections, organized by the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations.

"The city must not behave like a village, but like a metropolis," Coderre argued, adding that Montreal must strengthen its diplomatic presence in the world and protect its hold on the headquarters of organizations such as the World Anti-Doping Agency or the International Civil Aviation Organization.

Plante, meantime, chose to capitalize on the city's position as a green leader to ensure its influence, citing the fact that Montreal was the only municipality to speak at the UN climate summit in 2019. She said that the "public transit projects, the eastern REM and (the extension of) the Blue line" will play into this, as well as allowing for a better quality of life. "Montreal is becoming a green city. (...) More and more tourists are coming for that."

Coderre also pledged to work towards the ecological transition, reounting that "it was under our administration that we became a member of C40," a network of cities around the world committed to the most ambitious targets of the Paris Agreement.

Both candidates agreed to defend the French language, attract foreign investors and support newcomers.

CLOSE RACE

Coderre and  Plante are neck and neck, with 37 per cent and 36 per cent of voting intentions, respectively, according to a Léger-Le Devoir poll published last week.

 The other two mayoral candidates, Balarama Holness (8 per cent) and Marc-Antoine Desjardins (5 per cent), were not invited to the debate.

The first debate was held last week by Tourisme Montréal. A third debate will be held on Oct. 18, this time organized by the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal.

Municipal elections will be held on Nov. 6 and 7, 2021.

- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Sept. 29, 2021. This article was produced with financial support from Facebook and The Canadian Press News Fellowships.