Wajsman running for mayor of Westmount
Beryl Wajsman, editor-in-chief of the weekly Suburban newspaper, is formally throwing his hat into the ring to run as the next mayor of Westmount in what promises to be an engaging race. He will be running against Christina Smith, the city councillor named interim mayor in April after Peter Trent stepped down.
Wajsman, a former fundraiser and organizer for the federal Liberal party and recently a candidate for the federal Conservative nomination in the Town of Mount Royal, said proposed changes to Quebec’s electoral map convinced him to run to protect minority rights.
Wajsman has been raising funds and public awareness to fight suggested changes that call for the ridings of Outremont and Mont-Royal to be merged, a move local mayors have decried as a “disaster” that would split anglophone, Jewish, and other minority communities, weakening their influence. Wajsman said he had heard of similar plans to remove the Westmount— Saint-Louis riding.
“We hear a lot of municipalities that are involved in minority rights issues, like Côte-St-Luc and Hampstead, but Westmount on these issues has always been silent,” Wajsman said. “Yet it is looked upon as the leader of the non-francophone community ... With Peter (Trent, mayor of Westmount since 1991) retiring, what the hell, you have to put yourself out there at some point.”
While architectural heritage, green spaces and demergers were the big issues of the past, Wajsman said, bolstering the rights of minority groups in the province is today’s priority.
“I can say that the reality of our irrelevance as minority communities is already here, or the threat to our relevance, and mayors have to lead. It is the primordial macro issue right now.”
A resident of Westmount for 15 of the last 32 years, Wajsman said as mayor he would push for driving economic commercial development and revenues, particularly in the zones below Ste-Catherine St. and Dorchester Blvd., in order to be able to reduce commercial and residential property taxes. He also wants to work out a new deal with Montreal’s agglomeration council regarding financing repairs of the city’s east-west arteries.
“Ste-Catherine St., Sherbrooke, de Maisonneuve are in terrible shape. People are losing their suspensions literally every day,” he said. “It’s like Sarajevo.”
Wajsman faces stiff competition in Smith, who oversaw finance and human resources as a councillor for the city after being elected in 2013. Voted interim mayor by her fellow councillors in April, Smith has received the endorsement of Trent, who stressed her experience in municipal politics was an invaluable asset.
Wajsman countered that his two law degrees, his experience as a journalist and editor of The Suburban for 10 years, and his work fighting to create new laws both on his own and as an assistant to former federal minister Irwin Cotler has given him a deep knowledge of public administration. Former mayor Jean Drapeau also had little municipal experience prior to his election, said Wajsman, who added he plans to submit his candidacy papers on Tuesday.
He noted that Smith listed improving bike paths, expanding green spaces and fixing the municipal greenhouse among her priorities.