Two candidates from the Mercier – Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough for Mouvement Montreal, Balarama Holness’s party, have abandoned the electoral race.
They are Jean-Philippe Martin, who coveted the post of city councilor for the district of Hochelaga, and Sylvain Medzalabenleth, candidate for the same post for the district of Maisonneuve – Longue-Pointe.
Elections Montreal announced the two withdrawals in the morning of Saturday.
Jean-Philippe Martin told Press that he had decided to keep his comments until after the November 7 poll.
In an email sent to Press, Montreal mayoral candidate Balarama Holness, head of Mouvement Montreal, said he wished “good luck” to the two former candidates. “I hope they will be successful in their next adventure,” he added.
Fewer players for Mouvement Montreal
MM. Martin and Medzalabenleth were initially in the race within the party Ralliement pour Montréal, of Marc-Antoine Desjardins.
Remember that Ralliement pour Montréal and Mouvement Montréal merged on September 30. Last Tuesday, Marc-Antoine Desjardins abandoned the electoral race by announcing that he was withdrawing his candidacy for the post of mayor in the borough of Outremont. Ralliement pour Montréal and Mouvement Montréal had major differences with regard to the status of the French language and the definition of the police.
On October 12, Balarama Holness reiterated that if elected, he would hold a referendum for Montreal to obtain bilingual city status.
Three other candidates have withdrawn from Mouvement Montréal since the start of the election campaign. They are Marc-André Bahl (district of Marie-Victorin), Jean-Pierre Boivin (district of Champlain – L’Île-des-Sœurs) and Katchik Ebruchumian (district of Robert-Bourassa).
Balarama Holness suffered another blow this week when CBC published a report on the nonprofit he founded, Montreal in Action. Former members have publicly asserted that Mr. Holness does not have the qualifications to lead Montreal. From November to December 2020, nearly every member of the Montreal in Action board and executive team resigned, some because they felt ignored or felt their work was being sabotaged.