updated: councillor mary gallery enters race for mayor of westmount
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the race for mayor of westmount is heating up, with city councillor mary gallery announcing her intention to run in the nov. 2 election.
the two-term councillor, who is commissioner of sports and recreation and of parks and green spaces on westmount council, announced on tuesday, the same day that lawyer lynne casgrain threw her hat into the ring.
announcing her mayoral bid to the weekly westmount independent, gallery, 55, said she would favour policies that increase housing options and supporting families “at every stage of life,” including with multi-generational living spaces and “granny flats.” the latter is a self-contained housing unit built on the same lot as a primary residence.
she told the gazette that other priorities are catching up on road repair, seeking “new and creative sources of revenue” and pursuing federal and provincial funding for community infrastructure projects.
“i’ve served on council for eight years and i felt that the time was right to step up,” she said.
“i’m someone who gets along with people, works well with people and i think it’s really important to have a candidate with experience.”
current mayor christina smith announced in january that she would not seek re-election. gallery and casgrain are the first candidates to emerge. the election campaigns in municipalities across quebec kick off in september.
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in her 2021 election platform, gallery proposed the possibility of building an indoor pool. that idea has been retained as a proposal in westmount’s special planning program for its southeast sector.
gallery supports the mini urban plan for the sector, which borders downtown montreal. she voted in favour of the plan at first reading at a recent council meeting and told the gazette the sector has languished for too long.
“we’re trying to come up with a very thoughtful, balanced program, a vision, a framework for that area,” she said.
meanwhile, casgrain has support from former westmount mayors peter trent and karin marks, who are contesting the southeast sector redevelopment favoured by a majority of the current council. casgrain, who is running in her first election, told the gazette she disagrees with the highrise towers and lowered minimum required floor space for residential units called for in the plan. she said she also disagrees with smith’s decision to bring the plan to a final vote in the “twilight” of council’s mandate in september.
“when it comes to the southeast, we are not aligned,” gallery said of trent and casgrain.
“the world has changed and the realities of construction and density and the cost of development of anything has changed. there’s an old way, there’s a new way, and we’re looking for a solution that will work.”
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gallery is the daughter of brian gallery, a former mayor of westmount, who died in 2021. her great-great grandfather was sir william hingston, a chief surgeon and bank president who served two terms as mayor of montreal in the 1870s. her great grandfather, donald hingston, founded st. mary’s hospital in 1924.
“civic involvement is definitely in my dna,” gallery said. she has been a board member of st. mary’s hospital foundation since 2018.
gallery is also a member of westmount’s planning advisory committee, which examines zoning requests, and a trustee of the westmount library committee.
correction: because of an editing error, a previous secondary headline for this report incorrectly stated that mary gallery “represents the district where a controversial redevelopment plan is in the works.” in fact, that area is represented by kathleen kez. the gazette regrets the error.
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