Ensemble Montréal

Ensemble Montréal is a municipal political party in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Its 33 elected officials are present in many districts in Montreal and represent the boroughs of Montréal-Nord (mayor, Christine Black), Saint-Léonard (mayor, Michel Bissonnet), Saint-Laurent (mayor, Alan DeSousa) and Pierrefonds-Roxboro (mayor, Dimitrios (Jim) Beis). Since November 5, 2017, Lionel Perez is the interim leader and the 19 elected officials who sit on the Montreal City Council form the Official Opposition.

Ensemble Montréal
Active municipal party
LeaderLionel Perez
FoundedMay 23, 2013
Headquarters1100 Cremazie Boulevard East, apt. 207
Montreal, Quebec
H2P 2X2
IdeologyLocalism
Big tent
Political positionCentre to centre-right
Seats on City Council
19 / 65

The party held power from 2013 until 2017 during the administration of Denis Coderre, at the time known as Équipe Denis Coderre pour Montréal. Following Coderre's defeat to Projet Montréal's Valérie Plante in the 2017 election, Coderre left municipal politics, and the candidates that had been elected under the party's banner changed its name to Ensemble Montréal.

The party has been a broad coalition of politicians who came from a variety of different parties prior to Ensemble's creation, but it is generally considered to sit to the right of Projet Montréal on most issues. The party draws most of its support from wealthier and less-urbanized sectors of the city. As of 2019, Ensemble's caucus comes entirely from outer boroughs, after Cathy Wong, representing the Ville-Marie district of Peter-McGill, left the party.[1]

2013 elections

The party was created in 2013 under the name Équipe Denis Coderre pour Montréal to support the candidacy of Denis Coderre for Mayor of Montréal during the November 3, 2013 municipal elections. In 2012, Denis Coderre announced his candidacy for mayor of Montreal.[2] Beginning in June 2013, seventeen sitting members of Montreal City Council, as well as several borough councillors, switched their party affiliation to Coderre's team.[3] Most were sitting as independent councillors following the dissolution of the Union Montréal party in the wake of Gérald Tremblay's resignation as mayor in 2012, although Coderre attracted support from former Vision Montréal and Projet Montréal councillors as well.

The party also announced a number of non-incumbent candidates in other races, including former Radio-Canada journalist Philippe Schnobb.[4] However, the party also faced some criticism for the fact that of the 19 candidates announced by the party as of early August, fifteen were incumbents and only four were new candidates, resulting in media speculation that Coderre could potentially fall short of his early promise to put forward a slate of candidates that was at least 50 per cent new.[5]

Councillors

After the 2013 election, Équipe Denis Coderre held the following seats on Montreal City Council and borough councils.[3][6][7]

Councillor Borough Position
BatistaMario Batista Saint-Léonard borough councillor, Saint-Léonard-Ouest
BeisDimitrios Jim Beis Pierrefonds-Roxboro borough mayor
BenjaminFrantz Benjamin Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension city councillor, Saint-Michel
BergeronRichard Bergeron Ville-Marie city councillor, Saint-Jacques
BironMichèle Biron Saint-Laurent borough councillor, Norman-McLaren
BissonnetMichel Bissonnet Saint-Léonard borough mayor
BlackChristine Black Montréal-Nord borough mayor
Boivin RoyKarine Boivin Roy Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve city councillor, Louis-Riel
BrunetMarie-Ève Brunet Verdun borough councillor, Champlain–L'Île-des-Sœurs
CelziRichard Celzi Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve city councillor, Tétraultville
ChitilianHarout Chitilian Ahuntsic-Cartierville city councillor, Bordeaux-Cartierville
ClementCatherine Clément-Talbot Pierrefonds-Roxboro city councillor, Cap-Saint-Jacques
CloutierJean-François Cloutier Lachine city councillor, Lachine
CohenJacques Cohen Saint-Laurent borough councillor, Côte-de-Liesse
CopemanRussell Copeman Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough mayor
DeSousaAlan DeSousa Saint-Laurent borough mayor
DecarieSuzanne Décarie Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles city councillor, Pointe-aux-Trembles
DerosMary Deros Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension city councillor, Parc-Extension
DesrochersPierre Desrochers Ahuntsic-Cartierville city councillor, Saint-Sulpice
DezielGilles Déziel Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles borough councillor, Pointe-aux-Trembles
Di Genova ZammitMichelle Di Genova Zammit Anjou borough councillor, Centre
DuchesneÉrika Duchesne Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie city councillor, Vieux-Rosemont
DugasÉric Dugas L'Île-Bizard–Sainte-Geneviève borough councillor, Sainte-Geneviève
GadouryMarc-André Gadoury Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie city councillor, Étienne-Desmarteau
GagnierPierre Gagnier Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough mayor
GauthierManon Gauthier Verdun city councillor, Champlain–L'Île-des-Sœurs
GibeauJean-Marc Gibeau Montréal-Nord city councillor, Ovide-Clermont
GignacYves Gignac Pierrefonds-Roxboro borough councillor, Cap-Saint-Jacques
GuayRichard Guay Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles city councillor, La Pointe-aux-Prairies
GuedesManuel Guedes Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles borough councillor, La Pointe-aux-Prairies
LattanzioPatricia Lattanzio Saint-Léonard city councillor, Saint-Léonard-Est
LefebvreElsie Lefebvre Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension city councillor, Villeray
L'HeureuxPierre L'Heureux Verdun borough councillor, Champlain–L'Île-des-Sœurs
Lo BiancoSylvia Lo Bianco Montréal-Nord borough councillor, Ovide-Clermont
MénardRéal Ménard Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough mayor
MieleFrancesco Miele Saint-Laurent city councillor, Côte-de-Liesse
PagéLorraine Pagé Ahuntsic-Cartierville city councillor, Sault-au-Récollet
ParenteauJean-François Parenteau Verdun borough mayor
PerezLionel Perez Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce city councillor, Darlington
PerriDominic Perri Saint-Léonard city councillor, Saint-Léonard-Ouest
Pierre-AntoineNathalie Pierre-Antoine Rivière-des-Prairies—Pointe-aux-Trembles borough councillor, Rivière-des-Prairies
PotvinMarie Potvin Outremont borough councillor, Robert-Bourassa
RapanaGiovanni Rapanà Rivière-des-Prairies—Pointe-aux-Trembles city councillor, Rivière-des-Prairies
RicourtMonica Ricourt Montréal-Nord borough councillor, Marie-Clarac
RossiChantal Rossi Montréal-Nord city councillor, Marie-Clarac
RouleauChantal Rouleau Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles borough mayor
SalemAref Salem Saint-Laurent city councillor, Norman-McLaren
SamsonAnie Samson Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension borough mayor
SimonyikKimberley Simonyik Lachine borough councillor, Fort-Rolland
TremblayLili-Anne Tremblay Saint-Léonard borough councillor, Saint-Léonard-Est
ValleeMonique Vallée LaSalle city councillor, Cecil-P.-Newman

Former

The following incumbent councillors affiliated with Équipe Denis Coderre in 2013 during the preceding council, but did not run or were defeated in the 2013 election.

Councillor Borough Position
FrechettePierre Fréchette Le Sud-Ouest borough councillor, Saint-Henri–Petite-Bourgogne–Pointe-Saint-Charles
FotopulosHelen Fotopulos Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce city councillor, Côte-des-Neiges
NunesAna Nunes Outremont borough councillor, Jeanne-Sauvé

2017 elections

Denis Coderre also contested the Montreal municipal elections in 2017 under the name Équipe Denis Coderre pour Montréal. On losing the 2017 municipal election, Denis Coderre left municipal politics. To disassociate themselves from their resigning leader, the party known as Équipe Denis Coderre first declared an intention to change its name to "Mouvement Montréal", but failed to register the name before making the announcement, allowing another party to quickly reserve the name for themselves.[8][9]

Thus, the party had to come up with another new name and changed to "Ensemble Montréal."[10]

Councillors

Following the 2017 municipal election, Équipe Denis Coderre held the following seats on Montreal City Council and borough councils.

Councillor Borough Position
BeisDimitrios Jim Beis Pierrefonds-Roxboro borough mayor
BironMichèle Biron Saint-Laurent borough councillor, Norman-McLaren
BissonnetMichel Bissonnet Saint-Léonard borough mayor
CohenJacques Cohen Saint-Laurent borough councillor, Côte-de-Liesse
DeSousaAlan DeSousa Saint-Laurent borough mayor
DerosMary Deros Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension city councillor, Parc-Extension
PerezLionel Perez Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce city councillor, Darlington
SalemAref Salem Saint-Laurent city councillor, Norman-McLaren

Former

The following incumbent councillors elected under the Ensemble Montréal formation are no longer part of it.

Councillor Borough Position
ParizeauHadrien Parizeau Ahuntsic-Cartierville city councillor, Saint-Sulpice

Political positions

Due in part to its largely suburban base, the party has often attacked Projet Montréal over policies it claims are "anti-car." Interim party leader Lionel Perez has attacked the Plante Administration over its handling of the pilot project limiting private vehicular access to the Mount Royal service road.[11]

The party has not consistently supported expansions to Montreal's mass-transit network. While then-Mayor Denis Coderre was a strong proponent of the Réseau express métropolitain, which is being built as a "public-public partnership" between the provincial government and the Caisse de dépôt et placement, the party has opposed the construction of the Pink Line (Montreal Metro). Ensemble Montréal proposed a pilot project that would keep the metro system open during the overnight hours on summer weekends.[12]

While it was in power from 2013–2017, Ensemble Montréal planned to heat and widen sidewalks along a stretch of Sainte-Catherine Street West. Once Projet Montréal took office in 2017, the heating elements were removed from Sainte-Catherine's renovation plans due to their expense, but plans to widen sidewalks and beautify the street were otherwise largely retained.

References
  1. Lau, Rachel. "Cathy Wong, 1st woman named Speaker of Montreal’s city council, will sit as independent," Global News, April 9, 2019.
  2. "Denis Coderre, aspirant maire". Radio-Canada, November 9, 2012.
  3. "Borough mayor Lionel Perez joins Coderre’s party". The Gazette, July 30, 2013.
  4. "Philippe Schnobb se joint à l'équipe de Denis Coderre". Le Devoir, June 19, 2013.
  5. "Mairie de Montréal: le président de l'Assemblée joint l'équipe Coderre". Le Journal de Montréal, August 2, 2013.
  6. "Denis Coderre unveils eight more candidates for his party". The Gazette, June 17, 2013.
  7. "City councillor Harout Chitilian joins Denis Coderre". The Gazette, August 2, 2013.
  8. Mézil, Jeiel Onel. "Équipe Denis Coderre se cherche encore un nouveau nom". Retrieved March 30, 2019 – via Cyberpresse.
  9. "List of reserved names". Élections Québec. Retrieved March 30, 2019.
  10. Montréal, Ville de Montréal-Opposition officielle à l'Hôtel de Ville de. "L'Opposition officielle se nomme désormais " Ensemble Montréal "". www.newswire.ca. Retrieved March 30, 2019.
  11. . Global News.
  12. . CTV News.
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