Ah, we love you Montreal.
Really, could there be a more appropriate backdrop for a mayoralty candidate’s campaign slogan than a subliminal construction cone hiding in the background?
And could there be a funnier debut for a municipal election campaign that promises to be about love and brotherhood and non-partisan cooperation than a kick-off that begins with a herd of angry photographers shouting at one of their breed and smacking him in the back with a monster zoom lens until he heeds their demands to get the hell out of their picture?
In case you weren’t paying attention (and yes, I do know it’s July) Marcel Côté joined the race for mayor of Montreal Wednesday morning.
Aftera couple of months of intense reflection and arm-twisting — which extended until now, no doubt as a result of the shocking arrest and subsequent resignation two weeks ago of interim mayor Michael Applebaum (an event I like to think of as the Applebaumshell) – the economist and founder of Secor said he’s ready to head a new Coalition pour Montreal.
The new guy was flanked by a handful of potential candidates, including veteran Marvin Rotrand. The councillor with nine lives appears to have been one of the architects of the coalition and. Another interesting face hovering in the background was Martin Bergeron of Reflexion Montreal, a prospective candidate and self-professed policy wonk who has worked for Tremblay administration and the Montreal Board of Trade.
Louise Harel, the head of Vision Montreal who dropped out of the mayoralty race Tuesday and threw her support behind the coalition, was also present, at least according to her staff. (She kept a remarkably low profile and skipped out quietly before the end.)
Even more interesting, however, was the cast of Montreal hipsters and glitterati who had gathered around Côté to fill up the podium — most notable being Phyllis Lambert, the grand dame of Montreal heritage and architecture; avant-garde dance diva Marie Chouinard; and Eric Fournier, the force behind Moment Factory, which has crafted dazzling light and sound shows for such cities as Barcelona and Los Angeles. None of those folks are expected to run for office.
Côté‘s arrival is sure to ruffle feathers among the other mayoralty candidates. Both Denis Coderre and Richard Bergeron scheduled news conferences Wednesday afternoon where they were expected to throw in their two cents.
Côté laughed off suggestions his pact with Louise Harel is strictly a marriage of convenience. “No, that would make me a polygamist.”
But what do readers think?
Born out of the crisis which began with the resignation of Gerald Tremblay last fall and the slow excruciating death of Union Montreal, the coalition springs from the premise that party politics is bad news at City Hall, and that you don’t need ideology to organize garbage pick-up, plant flowers and shovel snow.
On the other hand, it’s easy to see how political biases might influence whether you want to pour money into highways or bike paths, increase or decrease parking spots , build parks or condo towers.
Is it time Montreal finally ditched political parties at city hall once and for all?
Can a coalition hold when the going gets rough?
Say, for instance, when the disciples of social democracy and the high priests of big business have to wrap their heads around budget priorities?
Or when some particularly mind-numbing provincial bill on language or culture rears its ugly head and ?
Tell us what you think.
In the meantime, you can check out Côté‘s grand themes and principles on which the campaign will be built by visiting the campaign website.
pcurran@montrealgazette.com
Twitter: peggylcurran
