NDP opens riding office in NDG-Westmount as race for candidacy continues

The NDP now has a riding office in NDG-Westmount, so there’s just one thing missing: a candidate.

The party has six people vying for the candidacy, with several of them stopping by the opening of the new office on the corner of Sherbrooke St. and Melrose Ave.  on Tuesday.

Among the contenders in the riding currently held by Liberal Marc Garneau are former The Gazette journalist Sue Montgomery, city councillor Peter McQueen and James Hughes, former head of Old Brewery Mission.

Hughes cited $15-a-day daycare as an issue he’s excited about and said he would try “To open the doors of the economy to women, and single moms in particular, that they haven’t had before.”

Montgomery, said that Parliament needs more women MPs.

“Only 25 per cent of our MPs are women,” she said. “Because of that, a lot of issues women care about are not raised in the House of Commons.”

McQueen vowed to make transit a priority if he were to be selected as the NDP’s candidate.

“I’m going to be pushing hard to show exactly how the $5 billion a year the NDP is promising for urban infrastructure and transit is going to be spent, across the country and especially right here in Montreal,” he said.

The nomination vote will be held on Sunday.