Public transport becoming big election issue in Lachine

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.