former projet montréal president guedwig bernier enters leadership race
valérie plante announced in october she would not seek a third term as mayor.
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there’s already one prospective candidate to replace valérie plante as leader of projet montréal. just minutes after the leadership campaign officially kicked off, former party president guedwig bernier submitted his candidacy papers, party spokesperson ariane beaupré said in a written statement monday. his submission will be examined by party officials before being made official.
bernier, 51, made his name as a businessman in the telecommunications sector, and within the party he was instrumental in recruiting people of colour to run for elected office, though he never ran for office himself.
after bringing the longtime opposition party to power in consecutive elections in 2017 and 2021, plante announced in october she would not seek a third term as mayor.
in the aftermath of her announcement, projet montréal announced it would hold a leadership race. the period to submit candidacies began monday at midnight, and bernier submitted his before 2 a.m. it will last until jan. 31, and the official candidates will be known as of feb. 3. party members will vote on their new leader march 15.
candidates must receive 200 signatures from members stemming from at least seven boroughs, with a minimum of 10 signatures from each borough. they must also raise $7,500 in funds for the party and pay $1,000 from their own funds, according to a statement issued by the party last month.
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so far, bernier is the only candidate whose candidacy submission has been made public. beaupré said she would let other candidates make theirs public at their own discretion.
among those rumoured to be in the mix are gracia kasoki katahwa, who has all but confirmed she will run.
in a recent interview, katahwa was asked if she intended to seek the party leadership.
“there are several of us who are thinking about this, several of us who are thinking of how to continue the work of our administration in seeking a third mandate,” katahwa said.
katahwa said she will definitely run in the next election in a capacity that has yet to be determined, but said she’s proud of her record as mayor of côte-des-neiges—notre-dame-de-grâce, the city’s most populous borough. among her achievements are the implementation of a controversial bicycle path on terrebonne st., which has divided residents, and a project to preserve the empress theatre after decades of delays.
“there will be an election, and i will be running in that election,” she said. “côte-des-neiges—n.d.g. is very important for me. there are lots of needs left to be met. now is it better for me to do it as a mayor of a borough or a party leader? we will see. what’s sure is that for projet montréal and for me, (the borough) is a priority of our administration.”
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executive committee chairperson luc rabouin, the borough mayor of plateau-mont-royal, is also a potential successor to plante. other rumoured candidates are laurence lavigne-lalonde, the mayor of the villeray–saint-michel–parc-extension borough and an executive committee member in charge of parks; mercier–hochelaga-maisonneuve councillor alia hassan cournol, who is also an associate councillor on the executive committee; and ville-marie councillor robert beaudry, who handles the poverty and urban planning files.
for its part, opposition ensemble montréal has no declared candidates, and its leadership vote, which was to have begun in october, has been postponed indefinitely.
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