Rabouin to face Martinez Ferrada in Montreal's 2025 mayoral race
Rabouin elected leader of Projet Montréal on Saturday evening
Projet Montréal members have elected Luc Rabouin to become their next leader.
On Saturday evening, he won 59.2 per cent of the vote in the fourth round, while the borough mayor for Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Gracia Kasoki Katahwa, came in second with 40.8 per cent.
Also in the running were city councillor Ericka Alneus, former Projet Montréal president Guedwig Bernier and borough mayor Laurence Lavigne Lalonde.
At one point, the borough mayor for Lachine, Maja Vodanovic, was also in the race but decided in January to drop out and endorsed Rabouin instead.
Rabouin, mayor of the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough and chair of the city's executive committee, said that, as Montreal's mayor, he would focus on the environment and housing — two areas Valérie Plante prioritized during her tenure as the city's mayor.
On Saturday evening, in front of over 300 people at Entrepôts Dominion in the Saint-Henri neighbourhood, delivered a speech that, in addition to housing and climate change, focused on the economy. He also called for a greater autonomy of the city in relation to Quebec City and Ottawa, while highlighting the need to strengthen ties with the Quebec government.
The municipal elections will take place on Nov. 2, 2025.
In February, the Official Opposition party Ensemble Montréal announced MP Soraya Martinez Ferrada as its new leader. Up until last month, she was the federal tourism minister.
"It is with enthusiasm and determination that I embark on this new adventure to build a city that lives up to our ambitions. Montreal deserves leadership that brings people together and listens to them," she wrote in a statement posted on X.
In an interview with CBC's Debra Arbec last month, she said Projet Montréal failed at one of its key priorities.
"The choices that this administration has done to construct more housing [have] been a fail," she said.
If she's elected as the city's mayor, Martinez Ferrada says she'll address the housing issue by supporting construction through faster permits and new ideas to work with the private sector to create social and affordable housing. She also hopes to work with community centres to tackle homelessness.
The two other parties represented at city hall are Équipe LaSalle Team led by LaSalle borough mayor Nancy Blanchet and Équipe Anjou led by Anjou borough mayor Luis Miranda.
Last fall, Montreal mayor Valérie Plante announced she would not seek a third term in office after seven years on the job.
"I realized I was not able to guarantee Montrealers four more years with the same level of energy that I have always given," she told a room of reporters and staff at city hall in October 2024.
Plante has led the party since December 2016. She will continue to serve as mayor until the end of her mandate.
Dónal Gill, a political science professor at Concordia University, says Rabouin could leverage "very strong" economic and executive credentials.
Gill expects the campaign to be values-based.
"It looks to me like [Projet Montréal] likes the idea of Ensemble Montréal coming to the table with the kind of pro-car, anti-public transit, maybe even something approximating an anti-woke kind of sort of messaging to try to put Projet Montréal into that corner and have to defend themselves on that more progressive terrain," said Gill.
Although he believes Rabouin's party would like the race to be framed as a left-right choice, he notes that's it is very common for politicians to adjust their stance after securing leadership to appeal to a broader electorate.
Gill predicts that the key question for Montrealers in the upcoming election will be who is best suited to manage the city during this time of "economic hardship."
With files from Radio-Canada, CBC's Hénia Ould-Hammou, Gloria Henriquez, and Matthew Lapierre