How Soraya Martinez Ferrada won Montreal, and what's next
CBC
After eight years under Valérie Plante and her party Projet Montréal, Montrealers voted in favour of change.
Soraya Martinez Ferrada, who stepped down from her post as a federal cabinet minister to run for mayor, was projected to win with 43 per cent of the vote.
She beat out Luc Rabouin, Plante’s successor, by eight per cent.
Her party won over several boroughs from Projet and appeared poised to take a majority of seats at city council.
"Tonight, Montreal sent a clear message — we need change,” Martinez-Ferrada said in her victory speech.
It was a convincing win for Martinez Ferrada, who arrived in Montreal at age eight when her family fled the Pinochet regime in Chile.
She ran a steady campaign with the slogan “Listen and Act” — a clear jab at Plante’s reputation among her critics for pushing ahead with a progressive agenda on initiatives such as bike paths.
One of Martinez Ferrada’s first promises, back in August, was to conduct an audit of the city’s cycling network, which was expanded under Plante, and eliminate any found to be dangerous.
She also promised, within 100 days of taking office, to conduct an inventory of construction sites to improve traffic flow, reform the city’s approach to affordable housing and boost funding to help deal with homelessness.
But fixing Montreal’s biggest problems could be easier said than done.
Montreal is facing a housing crisis, a financially strapped public transit system and growing complaints about traffic on the roads.
These issues were also a priority for Plante when she was elected eight years ago.
She was unable to solve them, and near the end of her time in office lamented that the provincial and federal governments couldn’t do more to help.
Will the next mayor fare much better?
It’s been a deadly year on Calgary’s streets.
Jails in northern Ontario are facing some of the worst overcrowding pressures in the province, with population data showing dramatic increases since 2019.
Northwest Toronto's newly-opened light-rail transit (LRT) line is getting its first major test Monday, as weekday commuters bring rush hour to the Finch West LRT for the first time.
Demolition of Kitchener's Frederick Street bridge is underway in order to prepare for work on a new Highway 7 between Guelph and Kitchener.
With her siblings, parents and late husband in mind, Marguerite Keating requested the song O Holy Night during a Sunday service in Charlottetown.
The majority of fraud cases in Ontario have ended with charges being stayed or withdrawn since 2020 because of COVID-19-related backlogs, the growing complexity of frauds, and a lack of resources in the province’s criminal justice system, according to the Ontario Crown Attorneys’ Association.
Ontario Provincial Police in Elgin County say one person has died in a fatal collision along Hwy. 401 in Dutton, west of London.
A southwestern Nova Scotia community is hoping its successful purchase of a historic Acadian church will serve as a model for other communities to follow.
The Queen Elizabeth Drive area near Youghall Beach in Bathurst, N.B., got flooded by Saturday's high tide.
Residents of a Winnipeg highrise have been told it could take up to five business days for both its elevators to be repaired in the aftermath of a power outage on Thursday.
Several parts of the province are expected to see a wet and cold start to the week as Environment Canada has issued several rainfall and snowfall warnings.
Peel police have charged four youths and recovered a stolen vehicle after an attempted robbery in Mississauga Wednesday.
The Arctic Winter Games International Committee has approved a shift to a three-year-cycle through 2032. The games have previously been held every two years.