Six days before voters go to the polls, three candidates for mayor of Longueuil clash over how best to develop the city.
Sylvie Parent is the candidate for Action Longueuil; she replaced outgoing Mayor Caroline St-Hilaire as head of the party earlier this year.
"In 2013, we had a vision for Longueuil," Parent said in an interview with CJAD news. “Now, in 2017, we are ready to make it happen."
Under the watch of Mayor St-Hilaire, Parent says her party successfully cleaned up the city’s finances, putting it in a position to take bold steps in developing a vibrant downtown center.
The proposed development, which the city is calling Longueuil Downtown 2035, would bring the city back to the river’s edge with walkways, local shops, and housing, Parent said. She estimates that the project will bring in $150 million per year in private investments.
Josée Latendresse, who opposes Parent in the race for mayor, also opposes the Downtown 2035 project. She told CJAD news that it focuses too much on density.
“It is an artificial American like compact city center concept,” she said in an interview. “It’s not what citizens want; it’s not who we are.”
Instead, Latendresse says her party, Longueuil Citoyen, is pushing for integrated sustainable development in all areas of municipal operation. She believes that rather than focusing on building up a high density city center, which she calls an outdated form of economic development, citizens of Longueuil would benefit from having more green spaces, access to local shops, and day-to-day services in every neighbourhood.
“We are not an imitation of Dallas or Montreal; we are Longueuil,” she said. “So we want to think about it a little bit more and have a different way of developing it. Still a city center, but less density.”
Option Longueuil candidate Sadia Groguhé doesn’t see much light in between Latendresse and Parent.
“Josée Latendresse cannot claim to represent change when half of her team of candidates including herself, sat with Action Longueuil,” Groguhé said in an interview with CJAD news. “For the average citizen and for me, there is not much difference between Action Longueuil and Longueuil Citoyen.”
Latendresse left Action Longueuil in April of this year after an unsuccessful bid for leadership. She and seven other city councillors broke from the party, which Parent now leads, to sit as independents.
“They are two teams, with most of their members coming from the party of the outgoing mayor,” Groguhé said. “The St-Hilaire administration has not listened to the population for eight years, and I can’t see how that will change.”
Groguhé, who is a former Member of Parliament for the federal NDP, promised to take public consultations seriously.
“We must look forward and be an inclusive city, where all citizens feel like they can contribute positively to the advancement of the city,” she said. “Only the team Option Longueuil has this will and commitment.”
7.63% of eligible voters in Longueuil took advantage of advanced voting this weekend, the rest will go to the polls on November 5th.