DOLLARD-DES-ORMEAUX — Frank Baylis is still in awe. The 52-year-old West Island entrepreneur had never run for office before. Now he’s been elected onto Canada’s biggest political stage.
“No one would have said, ‘okay it’s an easy Liberal majority.’ I don’t think so at all,” said Baylis.
The MP-elect for Pierrefonds-Dollard is one of several Liberals who swept the western part of the island. Baylis is hoping to take his party’s majority to the bank by making sure local issues get addressed.
“Obviously if you want to get something done, it’s much better to work together and you’re all pulling in the same direction,” he said.
One of his priorities: addressing traffic issues. Residents’ driving frustrations – which they share with the city – often reach nightmare proportions.
Many residents hope some of the $20 billion in new mass transit spending will filter down to Montreal’s western suburbs and relieve the clogged streets with better public transportation systems.
“The West Island has been neglected, in my estimation, for the last several years and there’s needs for both ridings. For Pierrefonds-Dollard and Lac-St-Louis,” he said.
“I think we’re going to see much more investment in mass transit as opposed to investing in the car, which has really what we’ve been seeing all these years,” Westmount mayor Peter Trent told Global News.
Mass transit is one issue. Road and bridge repairs are another.
Infrastructure in the western part of the island – like much of the city – needs massive improvements.
Trent said these issues – and west end Montreal as a whole – may soon get a lot more federal attention, especially if one the elected MPs gets appointed to cabinet.
“I can’t put myself in the brain of Justin Trudeau, as to whom he will pick for cabinet, but certainly Marc Garneau is right up there among the candidates,” said Trent.
Trent claimed if Garneau was to get named, it could mean some of the outstanding issues that have been neglected by Ottawa could quickly be put back on the front burner.
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