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The debate over public transit in Montreal’s Lachine borough is front and centre as the 2017 municipal elections draw nearer.
Four people are vying for the job of borough mayor — an unprecedented number of candidates.
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Incumbent Claude Dauphin has been mayor since 2002, the year Lachine was amalgamated into Montreal.
He told Global News Thursday the borough still has a strong independent streak, arguing he is still the best candidate to lead Lachine into the future.
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He wants to link the borough to downtown Montreal through a tramway, similar to the REM, that could move lots of people in a short period of time.
Yet, Bernard Blanchet, Vrai changement pour Montréal’s mayoral candidate, thinks there’s a more efficient and cost effective mass transit option.
“You don’t have to dig, it’s all above ground.”
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He is proposing a rapid bus system, paralleling what already exists in other parts of North America.
Meanwhile, Projet Montréal is standing by its proposed pink Metro line, which would include a station in Lachine.
“The pink line has to be in the conversation because the pink line is a necessity,” argued candidate Maja Vodanovic.
Though public transit is a hot subject in the borough now, there are also many other issues at play: building up a new residential sector in the east, as well as revitalizing the industrial park to attract new businesses and increase employment.
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Voters go to the polls to vote in the municipal elections Nov. 5.
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