Young voters the focus as Montreal mayoral candidates debate
Four mayoral candidates took part in a debate Tuesday night with a focus on young Montrealers.
Presented by six local youth organizations, the debate at the University of Montreal welcomed anyone running for mayor of Montreal. Of the 10 candidates on the ballot, four took part.
It was an unusual format: the candidates took the stage individually, answering moderator questions without any interaction with their opponents. There were several youth-oriented themes, but the questions for each candidate varied.
On the issue of affordable housing, Projet Montreal’s Valerie Plante called it a huge challenge for all major cities.
“In our next mandate we've already announced there will be 2,000 units for students,” she said, promising those units will be affordable.
Denis Coderre of Ensemble Montreal highlighted similar goals from his platform.
“We're talking about a goal of 2,000 student units and when we talk about student housing, it's also families, so it's housing with three apartments,” he said.
But Balarama Holness on Mouvement Montreal said with nearly 200,000 students in Montreal, a few thousand units won't cut it.
He promised to fix loopholes in Projet Montreal's housing regulation to make housing more affordable.
When asked about mobility, Holness promised free rides on the STM.
“Over a period of 10 years, we'll ensure the STM is free for the population,” he said, adding he believes it will cost $500 million per year.
Plante highlighted collective transportation improvements already in the works, including the REM and the extension of the metro’s Blue line. Coderre also pointed to the need to complete the Blue line.
Mayoral hopeful Gilbert Thibodeau of Action Montreal went in a different direction, saying he'd expand Yellow and Orange metro lines.
“There's a colour that exists and it's Yellow and Orange and my intention would be to finish the loop,” he told voters.
The candidates all agreed on one issue: the importance of young people engaging in local politics and casting their vote.
Municipal elections are on Nov. 7. Details on how to register to vote are here.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.