So often, Montreal and Quebec politics don't translate or make it out to the Rest of Canada (RoC). Montreal is about to dive head first into the campaign season of what one candidate has called the "most important election in 25 years." It's hard to disagree with him. So here's what you need to know if you haven't been following along.
The context
In the last year, two mayors have gone down in corruption scandals. The first, Gerald Tremblay, had been mayor for 10 years up until his resignation in Nov. 2012. His resignation came after one of his chief party organizers famously testified that at one point there was a safe in city hall, so stuffed with dirty cash, that it wouldn't close.
His replacement, Michael Appelbaum, said as he took office in Nov., 2012, that he would only sit as interim mayor for a year. He would, he said, run for the mayor of the neighborhood of Cote-des-Neiges/Notre-Dame-de-Grace, where he had already been mayor for the past decade.
By June of this year, Appelbaum would be indicted on 14 counts of municipal fraud related to the time he spent as mayor. His first court appearance is scheduled for next month.
These two inglorious conclusions to Montreal political careers have come amidst a province-wide inquiry into what has turned out to be decades of corruption in Quebec politics. The commission, chaired by a tough as nails former prosecutor and judge who once prosecuted a Hell's Angels boss, is charged with investigating corruption in Quebec's powerful construction industry. The inquiry has seen former mayors, former aids to Stephen Harper, construction magnates — and maybe even suspected mobsters in the coming months — testify as to their dirty dealings.
The commission has held the province rapt for the last year or so, and is going to continue at least into the spring. The commission's revelations have cracked the city's politics wide open, with both major municipal parties, Vision and Union, fading away or imploding in recent months.
The candidates
Denis Corderre: A Liberal member of Parliament since 1997 representing the Montreal riding of Bourassa, Coderre stepped down from the position of Quebec Lieutenant in 2009 after a disagreement with Michael Ignatieff. Considered by many in the media to be the frontrunner in the race, Coderre and his slate have faced accusations from other parties of being too close to the old Union Montreal power structure. His slate includes a great number of incumbent city councillors, who are newly independent after jumping from the sinking Union ship.
Richard Bergeron: An urban planner with an academic background, Bergeron ran for city councillor in 2005. Since then he has built up an impressive following of urban planning nerds, young lefties, and environmental types. His party, Projet Montreal, is looking to pull off what would be considered an upset by asserting that they are the only group without the stain of corruption. Bergeron himself raised eyebrows when he first rose to prominence after he questioned the official version of the 9/11 attacks in his 2005 book. In perhaps a peculiarity of Montreal politics, the issue hasn't come up much this time around.
Marcel Côté: Another academic with degrees in physics and economics, Côté is entrenched in the city's high culture scene, as well as in private industry. He variously directs or sits on the boards of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Marie Chouinard Dance Company, one of Canada's largest gold mining companies, and assorted pro-development lobbying bodies. His slate of candidates includes many former Vision Montreal candidates, and is seen by some to be animating the dead skeleton of the former opposition party.
Mélanie Joly: The only woman among the four front running candidates, and the youngest by a long shot, at 34. She worked as a lawyer from 2000 to 2007, and then in Public Relations. The PR background shows, as she has easily the best-designed signs and a large facebook presence relative to the size of the campaign.
Issues
The three biggest issues in this race are, and will be for the next several weeks until the election, in order: corruption, corruption, closely followed by corruption. Safe money is on the candidate who can do the best job of convincing voters that they can keep a clean house at city hall. The breadth and depth of the rot at City Hall exposed by the Charbonneau Commission shows that keeping a clean house will be no mean feat.
The corruption is what has had Montrealers talking for the last several months, on the radio, in the newspapers, in the bars and on the bus. Ever since the (in)famous MaClean's cover of a few years ago, the people of this town are a little embarrassed about the Canada-wide headlines the city has been making. Corruption in public contracts, and all it's attendant impacts on the quality of services and infrastructure are, bar none, the most important issue in this election. Housing, budgets, transportation, planning, and potholes: all the other traditionally important issues in municipal elections are also relevant. They are all, however, impacted by corruption, and therefore come second.
There is another less-traditional issue that is occupying the thoughts of Montrealers in this election, and is frankly important for the country at large: What place should Montreal have in Quebec? The city has always been a multilingual city, with a number of traditions represented right from its settlement.
Besides corruption, the other big news coming out of Quebec recently is the "Charter of Quebec Values," which seeks to restrict "ostentatious" religious clothing worn by public sector workers. No kippahs, head scarves, veils, or turbans; all would be banned in hospitals, schools, and other public institutions.
All of the major mayoral candidates are opposed to this, as is most everyone in Montreal. Earlier this month, the charter had thousands of Montrealers doing what they do best: taking to the streets. There is another march scheduled for next month. While the Charter is not really expected to become law (the Parti Quebecois doesn't have the votes), the suggestion of such a law has prompted some soul searching amongst Montrealers about whether or not the city should have special status in Quebec. That is, to be exempt from some of the harsher laws protecting the French language, as well as an exemption from the proposed charter. (Remember pastagate? Also pretty embarrassing.) Is Montreal, Quebecois? Is it Canadian? Is it somewhere in between?
Watch this space for what will certainly be an interesting and tremendously important election.
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