'If it ain't broke, don't fix it,' says Coderre, while Plante promises bold change
Campaign comes down to battle between Plante's grand vision and Coderre's 'stay the course' message
In the final week of the campaign, we're following the two main Montreal mayoral candidates — Denis Coderre and Valérie Plante — as they battle for top spot at city hall. Here's a look at what happened today.
The Montreal mayoral race in its final days appears to be boiling down to a simple question for voters: is everything just fine the way it is?
"At the end of the day, I think people will see that, if it ain't broke why fix it?" Denis Coderre said in an interview on CBC's Daybreak with Mike Finnerty Thursday morning.
Coderre's main rival, Valérie Plante, riposted a few hours later as she spoke to reporters on her way into a lunch event downtown.
"I'm not going to settle for the minimum. This is exactly what Denis Coderre is doing right now — status quo," Plante said.
No need to rock the boat: Coderre
That phrase, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," sums up Coderre's campaign very well.
He didn't even bother to release cost estimates for his promises, saying his municipal budgets from the last four years speak for themselves.
"Do we want to start from scratch? We have a tremendous momentum. Economically, it's going really, really well," Coderre said on Daybreak.
"Think back four years ago: we had all that corruption, and now we brought back integrity."
Bold vision: Plante
Plante admitted that Montreal is probably better off than when Coderre became mayor four years ago — at least in terms of corruption.
"I'm not going to be satisfied with comparing myself to the darkest time of Montreal — the Applebaum and Tremblay era," Plante said.
She was referring to former interim mayor Michael Applebaum, who was convicted on corruption charges in January. Applebaum, in turn, had replaced former mayor Gérald Tremblay, who was forced to resign five years ago as corruption allegations swirled around his administration.
"What can we do better? What is the vision for the future?" Plante asked.
"It's about making choices that will improve Montrealers' lives tomorrow, but also in the near and far future."
The centrepiece of that vision is Plante's proposal to build a brand new $6-billion Metro line, something Coderre has dismissed as "magical thinking."
Bold vs. safe
Indeed, Coderre and his team have tried to portray Plante and Montreal as too far to the left — a gamble that would hurt business in Montreal.
Richard Bergeron, the founder and former leader of Plante's party, Projet Montréal, left Projet to join Coderre's team in 2014.
"When I was leader, I had to keep a balance between left and right wings of this political party," Bergeron told reporters at a media event Thursday featuring several candidates who had defected to Coderre's party over the years.
"This balance situation blew up when Ms. Plante became leader of Projet Montréal. Now it's a far-left political party," Bergeron said.
It's increasingly clear Montrealers are faced with two distinct visions:
Équipe Denis Coderre's message: Coderre is the safe choice, a low-risk leader who will continue his transformation of Montreal.
Projet Montréal's message: Plante is the bold choice, someone with big ideas that will carry Montreal into the future.
Make a date with CBC for election night this Sunday, Nov. 5:
Online: Get breaking news and live results at cbc.ca/montreal after polls close at 8 p.m.
On Facebook: Join host Debra Arbec for a 90-minute Facebook Live starting at 10 p.m. with results, analysis and reports from across Quebec.
On TV: Watch our live results show from 11 to 11:30 p.m. on CBC Television.
On Radio: Listen to CBC Radio One starting at 8 p.m. for a province-wide show hosted by Mike Finnerty in Montreal and Susan Campbell in Quebec City.
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