Denis Coderre and his team made their final appearance of the long and unexpectedly-close municipal election campaign this morning, fittingly, in the shadow of city hall.
The incumbent Mayor is neck-and-neck with Opposition Leader Valérie Plante of Projet Montréal. He emphasized his team’s experience in office over the past four years, warning Montreal voters not to “start from scratch” the morning after the election by voting Plante and her party into power.
Benson Cook (CJAD 800)
In a brief question-and-answer session with journalists, Coderre was asked if he regretted coming across as arrogant to as many as 55% of voters — according to last week’s CBC/Radio-Canada poll. In response, he said that was just his style, and that most voters appreciated that he got things done, even if they didn’t agree with how he went about doing so.
In light of how close polls suggest the Mayor’s race is, he was also asked if he would stay on as Leader of the Opposition if he lost the Mayor’s race to Ms. Plante but was co-elected to city council in his district of Ovide-Clermont in Montreal North. Coderre said to “ask me tomorrow”, and added that he was focussed on keeping the top job.
Plante countered that Coderre calling her inexperienced didn't work too well for the Conservative Party of Canada against Justin Trudeau during the 2015 federal election.
On the mayor's repeated message throughout the campaign that Montreal is back, Plante said that Coderre comparing himself favourably to the corruption during the Tremblay and Applebaum administrations is nothing to phone home about.
“Denis Coderre likes to say he did not end up in jail. I’m sorry, but I have more ambition for Montreal,” she said.
Voters in Montreal and other Quebec municipalities go to the polls tomorrow, November 5th.
-with files from Benson Cook and Andrew Brennan