Jean Fortier to join Montreal mayoral race for Coalition Montréal
Ex-chair of Montreal's executive committee will run against Denis Coderre, Projet Montréal's Valérie Plante
A third candidate has joined Montreal's mayoral race.
Jean Fortier, who once chaired the city's executive committee, is running under the banner of the centre-left party, Coalition Montréal.
The former Vision Montreal councillor will vie for the top job against the sitting mayor, Denis Coderre, and Projet Montréal Leader Valérie Plante.
Fortier held the second-most-powerful political job in the city from 1998 to 2001, during the Pierre Bourque administration.
Most recently, he was the spokesperson for Trainsparency, a coalition of groups which opposes the Caisse de Dépôt's light-rail train network, supported by Coderre and both the federal and provincial governments.
Coalition Montréal said in a news release that the party "sees itself as the alternative to extremes represented by Équipe Coderre and Projet Montréal."
With files from CBC's Sarah Leavitt