Valérie Plante relieved that Liberals, not Conservatives won federal election

Since the winner of the federal election was called Monday night, reaction has been pouring in from across the country. Montreal’s municipal election is just several weeks away, so how do the mayoral candidates feel about the Liberals winning a minority government?

Projet Montreal Leader Valérie Plante started her Tuesday morning press conference celebrating the Liberal minority win. “First off, let me congratulate Prime Minister Trudeau for his re-election.”

She vowed that if re-elected, she will continue to work with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on issues that matter to Montrealers. Plante added that she is relieved it’s not a Conservative government.

“The fact that this party was not a long time ago, not even saying out loud that climate change exists, to me was very crazy,” she said.

Plante says she’s looking to move forward on issues such as climate change and gun control.

“We need to be more stronger on that front, because every time the SPVM takes the gun out of the street, if there’s tens that are coming in, I mean, it is quite discouraging for everybody,” she said.

Speaking outside city hall Tuesday morning, mayoral candidate Denis Coderre said that when it comes to issues like safety, municipal governments should play a larger role.

“The fact that this government has been elected by the major cities — I think that we have a voice to be heard,” said the Ensemble Montreal leader.

He said that with a majority of citizens choosing to live in the city, the municipal government should have more responsibility. Coderre wants a new partnership to be created between all levels of government.

Mouvement Montreal Leader Balarama Holness is going one step further. He wants Montreal to be recognized as a city-state. The mayoral candidate believes this is the only way to thrive as a metropolis.

“This is a multicultural, bilingual metropolis and we want to have more powers, whether it’s taxation, health, immigration. We want to have a voice on the national and international stage,” he said.

Plante, however, is sticking to a more local stage. She wants Trudeau to create a Montreal-centric cabinet.

“We have lots of MPs here in Montreal from that new government. And this is definitely helpful because they understand the reality of Montreal,” Plante said.