Candidates campaign at advance polls
Montreal’s two main candidates for mayor spent Sunday encouraging supporters to cast ballots in advance polls as they entered the final week of the municipal election campaign.
Advance polling stations were open Sunday in about 900 municipalities in Quebec.
Incumbent mayor Denis Coderre was with his team at a Verdun polling station, while Valérie Plante, the leader of Projet Montréal, went to Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles and Anjou before heading to Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve.
In Montreal, 7.75 per cent of eligible voters took advantage of the right to cast a ballot in advance polls in 2013. The total turnout rate was 43.3 per cent. On Sunday, Montreal’s elections office reported that 6.54 per cent of eligible voters had cast ballots.
Advance voting is still possible at the returning officer’s office on Monday and Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Addresses and more information is available at the city’s election website, election-montreal. qc.ca.
Municipal elections across Quebec will be held Sunday, Nov. 5.
On Saturday, Plante was in Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension discussing housing and families with people on Jarry St.
“I’m excited, there’s a feeling that our campaign is resonating with the population. We’ve seen it in the polls,” Plante said in a brief interview between stops.
“My strategy is to be in places where we can make gains,” she added.
“And here in Villeray it’s definitely a place where we feel the population is behind us and our ideas — being very family oriented in terms of housing, in terms of transport.”
Incumbent mayor Denis Coderre was also out campaigning Saturday, attending masses at two separate churches in Ahuntsic-Cartierville.
In late afternoon, he appeared on Radio-Canada radio show La soirée est encore jeune, joking with host Jean-Philippe Wauthier and the panellists.
“Seriously, I don’t feel a wind of change,” Coderre said, when prodded as to whether Plante was gaining momentum.
“We did a lot in the last four years and we have to finish the job.”
Coderre defended his track record and spoke of how far Montreal has come under his watch.
“We have lots of projects, Montreal has never invested so much in infrastructure,” he said, while noting the city “was full corruption four years ago.”