CHANGE FOR WEST ISLAND
Belvedere threatens to break tradition of mayor first serving as a councillor
With half the ballots counted in Pointe-Claire and Dollard-desOrmeaux by press time, it was looking like voters in those municipalities might be opting for change and putting aside the status quo.
With more than 64 per cent of ballots counted and more than twice the number of votes, Pointe-Claire businessman John Belvedere appeared set for a win. The victory would break an uninterrupted 104-year tradition of residents voting in a mayor who had first served as a councillor. Outgoing councillor Aldo Iermieri was in second, with PointeClaire Village merchant Timothy Lloyd Thomas in third place and auditing consultant Teodor Daiev in fourth place.
In Dollard-des-Ormeaux, it appeared incumbent mayor Ed Janiszewski might be heading for retirement after 33 years as mayor. Outgoing councillor Alex Bottausci was in the lead, with Janiszewski in second and businessman Raman Chopra and financial systems analyst Isabel Maicus and running third and fourth respectively.
Beaconsfield’s incumbent Mayor Georges Bourelle was voted in for a second term, as was incumbent Mayor Paola Hawa in SteAnne-de-Bellevue.
With 95 per cent of the ballots counted in Dorval, incumbent
Edgar Rouleau was miles ahead of his four mayoral opponents.
In the borough of PierrefondsRoxboro, with almost 60 per cent of ballots counted, incumbent Mayor Jim Beis (Équipe Denis Coderre pour Montréal) was in the lead with Projet Montréal candidate Hélène Dupont in second and Vrai changement pour Montréal leader and outgoing councillor Justine McIntyre in third.
As of deadline, results in other West Island municipalities were scarce.
In Baie-d’Urfé, Maria Tutino was seeking her fourth term as mayor. Much of the chatter during the campaign swirled around the building of a sound barrier. Tutino said Phase 1 of the town’s sound barrier was slated to be completed in 2018. Opponent Alex Habrich favoured a natural-looking sound barrier, and two-term outgoing councillor and mayoral candidate Peter Fletcher saw the need for a sound barrier, but wanted the approval of a majority of taxpayers before moving forward with what would be a pricey project.
Proposed residential developments dominated the campaign conversation in the sprawling borough of Pierrefonds-Roxboro, the town of Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue and the village of Senneville.
Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue adopted a special planning program for its north sector, which angered landowners and resulted in the town being slapped with a $35.6-million lawsuit. Town council remained united behind the planning program, which requires developers to build up, not out, and the majority of voters chose to back the council.
In Pierrefonds-Roxboro, incumbent Beis took a wait-andsee approach when discussing the proposed Cap-Nature project slated for Pierrefonds West, saying he was following the lead of the environmental review board, which said it needed more information and wanted to see more citizen participation in the shaping of any proposed project for the site.
Senneville residents pushed back on a proposed condo development dubbed Boisé Pearson, saying the densification that would result from the build did not align with the leafy quiet of the village. It will be up to the new council and developer to discuss what the next move will be.
Mayoral candidate George McLeish was back on the campaign trail after being ousted by one-term outgoing Senneville mayor Jane Guest in 2013. McLeish served for more than 20 years as councillor and then mayor. His opponents, Julie Brisebois and Charles Mickie, are both outgoing Senneville councillors.
Incumbent Mayor Normand Marinacci in Île-Bizard-SteGeneviève left Vrai changement pour Montréal to join Projet Montréal Équipe Valérie Plante for this election. He faced off against two outgoing councillors, Stéphane Côté for Vrai changement pour Montréal and Eric Dugas for Équipe Denis Coderre pour Montréal. The borough made the news over the last mandate for having a particularly combative council.
In Kirkland, Mayor Michel Gibson was acclaimed.