There’s now one more person in the running for mayor of Montreal.
Jean Fortier, who is running for Coalition Montreal, is a former chairman of the city executive committee, who served under Pierre Bourque.
Fortier announced his candidacy at a press conference on Wednesday.
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It means there are now two people challenging Denis Coderre in the mayoral race in the Nov. 5 municipal election.
The other is Projet Montreal’s Valerie Plante.
Fortier is a former engineer and a banker and was city councillor for Darlington.
He refuses to define himself as a right or left of centre candidate.
“It doesn’t matter where I stand to the left or to the right,” he said. “Or what option from a nationalistic point of view. To me, the question is really irrelevant. It’s the depth of what we bring to the table that’s important to me.”
The details of what they’re bringing haven’t been revealed yet, but the Coalition insists that they will be a clear alternative to Coderre and Plante.
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“People tell us every day, they don’t like Coderre,” said party leader Marvin Rotrand. “And they say they are not comfortable with Valerie Plante.”
Despite the last-minute candidacy, the party is certain they have a chance, and they’re trying to sell Fortier as someone who can be trusted.
He sees himself as a person who has a sense of duty:
“That’s the way I was raised,” he said choking back tears. “My father was a civil servant and he died in front of me of exhaustion, working for the city, day and night.”
And the party claims they won’t split the vote, pushing Coderre back into power. They’ll be trying to win over Montrealers who feel Plante is too far to the left, but don’t really want to vote for the incumbent either.