WATCH ABOVE: The Mount Royal riding is going to be a hard fought battle between the Conservatives and the Liberals, two political foes that date back more than a decade. Global’s Tim Sargeant finds out more.
MONTREAL – The political arch rivals are back at it again.
Anthony Housefather, the Liberal Party candidate is facing off against long time political foe Robert Libman, the Conservative Party candidate to represent the federal riding of Mount Royal.
It’s the first time the two have run for federal office, but not the first time they’ve run against each other.
READ MORE: Côte Saint-Luc mayor Anthony Housefather takes the plunge into federal politics
In 2004, Housefather successfully convinced voters in the former Montreal borough of Côte-St-Luc, Hampstead and Montreal West to vote in favor of demerging from the megacity.
READ MORE: Strong Conservative candidates look for breakthrough in Montreal
Libman was campaigning to keep the three districts together as one large borough within Montreal.
Housefather is the current mayor of Côte-St-Luc and has been since 2005.
READ MORE: Housefather running for seat in federal riding
He was a councillor prior to that and was also a councillor in the town of Hampstead.
He’s been an elected representative since 1994.
Libman is also an accomplished politician; he formed the Equality Party in 1988 and was elected to the National Assembly as leader a year later.
READ MORE: 5 things you didn’t know about Robert Libman
He also served as mayor of Côte-St-Luc in 1998 and later sat on the Executive Committee of the City of Montreal in the early 2000s.
Both boast political experience and know how to represent the riding of more than 100,000 residents.
Mount-Royal is a Liberal stronghold and is former riding of former Prime Minister of Canada Pierre Elliott Trudeau.
Liberal MPs have served the riding uninterrupted since 1940.
READ MORE: Robert Libman launches Conservative nomination bid in Mount Royal
But the Conservatives are hoping to break the streak – in recent elections it has narrowed the gap in voting results, even coming within five percentage points from winning in 2011.
Libman is banking on the momentum, “We will win it. I feel we’re on the cusp of this historical breakthrough,” he told Global News.
But to do so, he will have to break the Liberal tradition.
“In this election, I’m anticipating the Liberal Party will do far better nationally and in Quebec,” Housefather told Global News.
“I don’t think the NDP will do as well as they did in the last election. So both of those things will help me as well.”
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