MONTREAL - Calling it "the biggest challenge of his life," incumbent mayor Gerald Tremblay said his first priority is to clean up the city's reputation as he begins Day One of his third term in office.

Monday, he told Montrealers his first move was to freeze all city investments.

"If there are existing commitments, we will follow up on them. If there are essential contracts we have to give, we will give them, but until we have answered rumours and found concrete solution with the Quebec government, (we'll wait)," said Tremblay.

A humbled Tremblay vowed to rebuild the public's confidence in city hall.

"I'm aware that the administration has been shaken by the events of the past months and more particularly in the past weeks," said Tremblay.

"Citizens want change and we embody this change."

The polls had indicated a tight three-way race going into the vote but Tremblay and his well-financed Union Montreal party appeared to benefit from a split in the vote between Harel and Bergeron.

This is Tremblay's third term after an unpredictable 44-day municipal election campaign shrouded by allegations of collusion and corruption within city hall.

"I simply want to say that I know this mandate comes with great responsibility," he said.

Tremblay won the 2005 election by a 25 per cent margin.

Low turnout

Montrealers gave Tremblay the mandate Sunday as they collectively shrugged their shoulders at startling allegations of widespread corruption and a tainted political culture at city hall.

Less than 40 per cent of Montrealers bothered to vote after a messy campaign that included a wave of scandals that has sparked police probes into contract tendering as well as calls for a public inquiry into the construction industry.

Tremblay grabbed less than 40 per cent of the popular vote, but that was enough to defeat longtime Parti Quebecois minister Louise Harel and third-place finisher Richard Bergeron.

In the 2005 municipal election, voter turnout was just under 35 per cent, compared to 49 per cent in 2001.

Election Montreal was aiming for a 50 per cent voter turnout this year.

Concedes

Conceding first, Bergeron showed Montrealers this election he had gained ground.

"We have every reason to be proud. We were nothing five years ago, and now we have 25 per cent of the vote and four councilors were elected," said Bergeron, addressing his supporters Sunday night.

Bergeron congratulated Tremblay, telling the crowd the population had spoken.

"The population has given him a third and final chance tonight," he said.

Manual voting

Ballots were counted by hand in this year's election, and not by electronic voting machines that were used in the last municipal election.

The Quebec Ministry of Municipal Affairs put an end to electronic ballot counting after technical issues delayed results in Montreal and Quebec City in 2005.

The numbers

  • There are 3,830 polling stations in 542 locations across the island of Montreal
  • There are 103 posts to fill at Montreal city hall: the mayor, 18 borough mayors, 46 councillors and 38 borough councillors
  • There are 1,100,208 registered voters

For more information, click here http://election-montreal.qc.ca/index.en.html

With files from The Canadian Press