Municipal Elections in South-West Borough : Candidates’ Answers to Citizen Questions

Thierry
Daraize

Ensemble Montréal
Team Soraya

The Ensemble Montréal team in Sud-Ouest, with Thierry Daraize, wants to promote harmonious cohabitation between residents, organizations, and businesses. We will strengthen collaboration with resources like Maison Benoît Labre to offer human, structured, and secure support. We must end the passing of responsibilities between levels of government: it’s time to act, not to offload. It is essential to intervene for people with special needs, just as it is imperative to listen to residents and merchants, too often forgotten in the equation, in order to build inclusive, peaceful, and sustainable living environments for all.

Véronique Fournier

Projet Montréal
Team Luc Rabouin

We sincerely believe that, as stated in the OCPM consultation report, people experiencing homelessness are full citizens just like housed people. We propose building 500 modular housing units across Montreal and protecting rooming houses by removing them from the speculative market to help hundreds of people get off the streets. We also believe that a proactive mediation approach is necessary to ensure healthy social cohabitation.

Shant
Karabajak

Transition Montréal
Team Craig Sauvé

The issue is the imbalance between needs and services. Maison Benoît Labre cannot absorb everything alone. We want to deploy several similar centers across Montreal to avoid over-concentration in a single neighborhood. In Sud-Ouest, we will strengthen a coordination table bringing together organizations, public services, and residents to adjust interventions, minimize nuisances, and improve quality of life for everyone, including people experiencing homelessness.

Matthew
Kerr

Futur Montréal

In my opinion, the only reasonable solution for Maison Benoit Labre is to relocate it from its current location and bring it closer to a hospital or detox center. Its proximity to an elementary school is inappropriate and dangerous. Cohabitation with homeless people is possible, but not in its current form. It is necessary to have a shelter or concentrated site with appropriate modular housing, especially as winter approaches.

Mehdi
Semsari

Action Montréal
Team Gilbert Thibodeau
Maison Benoît Labre provides essential services, and I have great empathy for the people who find support and stability there. However, its two components must be distinguished: housing and the supervised injection site. Housing plays a vital role and does not need to be relocated. However, the injection site, located in a very residential area and near a school, must be relocated to a more appropriate location: less residential, closer to a hospital, and better suited to health interventions. This approach protects users’ dignity while preserving the neighborhood’s quality of life.

Thierry
Daraize

Ensemble Montréal
Team Soraya

The Ensemble Montréal team wants to actively support Sud-Ouest’s commercial arteries, including Monk Boulevard, by promoting local economic vitality. We will encourage small business assistance programs and urban revitalization through attractive developments: adapted parking, greening, coherent signage, and friendly spaces. We are fortunate to have an active and dynamic BIA, and our team will be there to support it, like all other associations in the territory. We also want to showcase culinary Montreal in Sud-Ouest through our local restaurateurs and artisans.

Véronique Fournier

Projet Montréal
Team Luc Rabouin

Our team proposes establishing a pilot project for affordable commercial spaces to support our small businesses and local services. On Monk Boulevard and Wellington Street, this could involve removing these rental units from the speculative market to preserve the diversity of our commercial arteries. Projet Montréal commits to a tax freeze for small commercial buildings. We also want to enhance street furniture to offer Sud-Ouest residents vibrant and pleasant spaces.

Shant
Karabajak

Transition Montréal
Team Craig Sauvé

We want to help neighborhood businesses escape speculation by helping nonprofits and cooperatives purchase their spaces through a commercial land trust. This will help preserve affordable rents and a vibrant commercial fabric. In parallel, we will simplify administrative procedures and guarantee a municipal response in less than 30 days for simple requests. A boulevard like Monk must become a place of life and belonging again, not just a transit route.

Matthew
Kerr

Futur Montréal

The key to keeping small businesses affordable for customers is to maintain affordable rents and taxes for owners. The fewer expenses a business has, the more likely it is to succeed. Openly promoting Monk businesses and actively encouraging residents to support local businesses can also be a valuable asset for neighborhood businesses. A street festival on Monk would also be an excellent way to attract new customers to the borough.

Mehdi
Semsari

Action Montréal
Team Gilbert Thibodeau
Monk Boulevard must become an accessible and dynamic economic engine again. To preserve affordable businesses, we must first support small entrepreneurs by limiting speculation and promoting stable leases. I also want to simplify administrative procedures and encourage rapid occupancy of vacant spaces. Revitalization will come through better boulevard design: greening, cleanliness, security, and events that bring people back to the neighborhood. By focusing on strong local businesses, we protect the local economic fabric and restore to Monk the energy and friendliness it deserves.

Thierry
Daraize

Ensemble Montréal
Team Soraya

The Ensemble Montréal team wants to concretely address the pressing needs of Sud-Ouest youth. We salute the work of volunteers and community workers who already support our young people daily. They know better than anyone the gaps and realities on the ground. That’s why we want to first listen to them, understand their priorities, and act accordingly. Our commitment is to strengthen existing support, develop programs with them that respond to the needs they have identified, and offer them more support to ensure stimulating and inclusive environments that reflect Sud-Ouest’s diversity and energy.

Véronique Fournier

Projet Montréal
Team Luc Rabouin

The Borough is a privileged place for families wishing to raise their children there. With its numerous sports and cultural facilities, places specifically designed for young people are abundant. Our administration will ensure these municipal facilities are maintained in good condition and will offer diverse programming allowing both young and old to benefit from programs that reflect them. As Mayor of Montreal, Luc Rabouin commits to offering $7/day municipal day camps to support families.

Shant
Karabajak

Transition Montréal
Team Craig Sauvé

We will double and sustain funding for Sud-Ouest youth organizations to ensure program stability and quality. Through the PARC program, we will invite young people to co-create their neighborhood developments and participate directly in decisions affecting their public spaces. The goal: give young people a central place in Sud-Ouest’s community and civic life.

Matthew
Kerr

Futur Montréal

We must continue to fight to keep nonprofit organizations and community centers open in our borough. We must ensure recurring funding for centers that help children, not only so they can survive, but also so they can thrive. Futur Montréal commits to keeping youth programs active, including by guaranteeing low membership fees, subsidizing sports programs, and providing additional funding to keep learning centers operational.

Mehdi
Semsari

Action Montréal
Team Gilbert Thibodeau
The lack of youth programs in Sud-Ouest is concerning, as it directly affects young people’s development, academic success, and sense of belonging. I want to work with the City, community organizations, and schools to expand the offering of sports, cultural, and extracurricular activities. We must also make better use of existing facilities, such as school gyms and parks (Parc Le Ber for example), by extending their access hours. Finally, I want to support the creation of new safe and affordable spaces where young people can thrive. Investing in our youth means investing in the neighborhood’s future.

Thierry
Daraize

Ensemble Montréal
Team Soraya

Ensemble Montréal wants to restore smooth and safe traffic flow in all Sud-Ouest neighborhoods. This requires better planning of road axes, traffic light modulation, and securing pedestrian crossings, school zones, and bike paths. We want balanced cohabitation between motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians, based on a field approach and coherent planning. We must also ensure that public transit is smooth, well-integrated, and accessible to people with reduced mobility. Smart and inclusive mobility remains at the heart of our collective commitment.

Véronique Fournier

Projet Montréal
Team Luc Rabouin

It is essential to think about mobility comprehensively by offering different transportation options for moving people. We must build the city for everyone. We want to secure the areas around schools and facilities frequented by youth and seniors, so that pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists can coexist safely in the public domain. We will maintain free public transit for people 65 and over and expand it to low-income individuals.

Shant
Karabajak

Transition Montréal
Team Craig Sauvé

We will deploy calmed and safe streets, including woonerfs around schools, in connection with our School Neighborhoods program. We will improve work coordination with Infra-MTL to avoid unnecessary congestion and ensure smooth traffic flow. Safety is above all a matter of intelligent design, not repression.

Matthew
Kerr

Futur Montréal

We must reduce the duration of construction projects by offering incentives or bonuses to road companies that complete their work on time or ahead of schedule. Additionally, we must ensure that roads are not redone months after their initial completion and that new projects are not launched at the end of autumn. Futur Montréal also proposes building parking towers to improve traffic flow throughout the city.

Mehdi
Semsari

Action Montréal
Team Gilbert Thibodeau
Ensuring safety and improving traffic flow is essential for quality of life in Sud-Ouest. I want to strengthen public safety presence around schools and busy arteries, while improving lighting and signage. We need to optimize traffic light synchronization, redesign certain intersections, and better regulate parking to reduce congestion. Finally, I want to encourage effective transportation alternatives to decrease pressure on the network. The goal is simple: safer, smoother, and better organized streets for youth, families, and seniors!

Thierry
Daraize

Ensemble Montréal
Team Soraya

Once elected in Sud-Ouest, we will concretely examine this Slab-Park file, which has already been the subject of several studies and significant citizen mobilization. It is essential to analyze this work, validate options, and relaunch coordinated planning. This project represents an important link for active mobility between our neighborhoods and for greening the Turcot sector. It has strong potential to become a place of social and ecological influence in the heart of Sud-Ouest Montreal.

Véronique Fournier

Projet Montréal
Team Luc Rabouin

Projet Montréal has been advocating for many years for the creation of a north-south link to connect Notre-Dame-de-Grâce and Sud-Ouest. The City of Montreal has allocated a $60M investment for the realization of the Falaise Saint-Jacques ecoterritoire park and actively lobbies the Quebec and Canadian governments to realize this project that will benefit both our boroughs.

Shant
Karabajak

Transition Montréal
Team Craig Sauvé

Yes. The Turcot slab-park is an emblematic urban reconnection project that perfectly embodies our values: reconnecting divided neighborhoods, greening the city, and promoting active mobility. We will give it all our political and technical support, while mobilizing provincial and federal partners to finally realize this long-awaited urban repair project.

Matthew
Kerr

Futur Montréal

Yes, absolutely. We have an incredible opportunity to realize a truly great project, not only aesthetically, but also very practical. By easily connecting the two boroughs, we create opportunities for transportation, exploration, and family entertainment.

Mehdi
Semsari

Action Montréal
Team Gilbert Thibodeau
Yes, I want the Turcot interchange slab-park project to be realized, as it represents a unique opportunity to reconnect long-separated neighborhoods and create a true urban space. However, it must be emphasized that this realization does not depend solely on Sud-Ouest: funding is essential and must be shared between the City of Montreal and the provincial government. My role is to defend and accelerate this project, but its realization requires collaboration and major investments beyond the borough.

Thierry
Daraize

Ensemble Montréal
Team Soraya

Local media play a decisive role in strengthening municipal participation. In an era when information is diluted on social networks, they remain essential for disseminating reliable and accessible news. Too often, we observe in the field that residents have little information about the ongoing election campaign. Local media can reverse this trend: by clearly explaining the issues, giving everyone a voice, and ensuring fair and shared information, they contribute to increased participation and Sud-Ouest’s influence.

Véronique Fournier

Projet Montréal
Team Luc Rabouin

Local Sud-Ouest media play an essential role in bringing citizens closer to municipal life. By highlighting community initiatives, relaying current topics in our neighborhoods, and giving voice to residents, they strengthen the sense of belonging to our community. Their coverage helps better understand political decisions and encourages participation in public consultations, borough councils, and collective projects. As proximity relays, media like Nouvelles d’ici become catalysts for citizen engagement.

Shant
Karabajak

Transition Montréal
Team Craig Sauvé

Local media are essential to municipal democracy. We want to collaborate with them to better disseminate public consultations, make municipal information more accessible, and support local journalism. A well-informed population is a more involved population, and a more vibrant democracy in Sud-Ouest.

Matthew
Kerr

Futur Montréal

One of the biggest challenges in elections is young adult participation. Today, most news media is broadcast on social networks and it is crucial to promote channels that provide information about our local democracies, explaining the programs of different parties and synthesizing them into clear and understandable content. During this election campaign, I discovered influencers @isaacapeltz and @heytitocurtis, who do remarkable work analyzing the main parties.

Mehdi
Semsari

Action Montréal
Team Gilbert Thibodeau
Local media play a crucial role in strengthening citizen participation at the municipal level. They inform residents about neighborhood issues, explain projects, and give citizens a voice. By relaying consultations, public assemblies, and local initiatives, they foster direct dialogue between the administration and the population. A well-engaged local newspaper can also highlight the borough’s successes and challenges, generating interest and involvement from citizens. The more informed people are, the more motivated they are to actively participate in municipal life.