MONTREAL -- Projet Montreal got a boost to its star power Wednesday when City Councillor Cathy Wong chose to join Mayor Valerie Plante's party.
The Ville-Marie councillor for the Peter-McGill district is a rising star in municipal politics first elected in 2017 as part of Equipe Denis Coderre. She then sat as an independent when appointed president of the Montreal City Council. She was the first woman and youngest councillor to occupy the post at 30.
"Her arrival will allow us to offer the citizens of the Ville-Marie borough a united front and advance promising projects that will improve the quality of life of residents in the neighbourhood," said Plante in a statement. "I am proud to see that our projects and values are shared by Cathy Wong and thousands of Montrealers. Projet Montreal is on a roll and will continue to work hard to ensure that the people of Montreal have a promising future."
Wong said in a Facebook post that the positive collaboration with Projet Montreal and common vision with Plante led her to join the party.
"The way in which Mayor Valerie Plante managed the former children's file, to defend the importance of social housing, convinced me that we shared the same values of inclusion and social justice and that we had the same willingness to ensure equal opportunities for all," said Wong. "Valerie Plante's leadership in the fight against climate change also impressed me and encouraged her to join her team."
Wong is the first person of Chinese origin elected in Montreal.
