Municipal Elections in Verdun : Candidates’ Answers to Citizen Questions

Céline-Audrey
Beauregard

Projet Montréal
Team Luc Rabouin

Our priority is to develop housing resources and intervene upstream to shelter people from the streets. Since we have had a working committee on homelessness in Verdun since 2019, we want to highlight field actions and our local protocol. For example, Verdun has benefited this year from social mediation workers in both public spaces and municipal buildings. Beyond that, we commit to identifying additional services, sites for modular buildings, and contributing to efforts to maintain rooming houses.

Geneviève
Desautels

Ensemble Montréal
Team Soraya

To find humane and effective solutions to homelessness, we must facilitate every step that helps get a person off the street.

-Triple funding for organizations working on homelessness and guarantee this funding for four years.

-Invest $100M to create new small-scale emergency shelter resources in boroughs. (Verdun currently has no shelter resources.)

-Develop at least 2,000 transitional and permanent housing units in Montreal with psychosocial support in a first term.

-Double the mixed SPVM teams (police + workers) and ensure better coordination through a Tactical Intervention Group on homelessness.

Christopher
Steel

Transition Montréal
Team Craig Sauvé

Shouldn’t a democratic government represent the entire population and guarantee equitable access to essential resources funded by our collective taxes? Yet this is not the case. Homelessness reflects deep systemic failures rooted in lack of affordable housing, social, economic and political inequalities. Verdun cannot solve these problems alone, but can act locally with courage through proven and humane programs. Ensuring access to affordable housing, drinking water, food, clothing, and social services is the foundation each person needs to live with dignity.

Céline-Audrey
Beauregard

Projet Montréal
Team Luc Rabouin

Housing is THE number one priority for our party and locally. To increase the number of affordable and social housing units, we believe we must act at the level of new construction without forgetting existing buildings. Regarding new construction, Projet Montréal commits to replacing the bylaw for a mixed metropolis so that any project of more than 200 housing units must include at least 20% off-market housing. Locally, we will continue efforts to acquire buildings and land in addition to welcoming construction on lots already reserved for social housing.

Geneviève
Desautels

Ensemble Montréal
Team Soraya

With Ensemble Montréal, we will create an Affordability Fund that will directly support the construction or acquisition of off-market housing and achieve our goal of 20% affordable and social housing. We will also reduce construction costs by using 70-year emphyteutic leases on City-owned land and exempting off-market housing projects from property taxes and municipal fees. We also rely on accelerating the development of City land and buildings for off-market housing.

Christopher
Steel

Transition Montréal
Team Craig Sauvé

Transition Montréal envisions a city where housing is considered a human right, not a commodity. Dedicate public land to cooperative and non-profit projects where rents never exceed 30% of household income. Require real affordable housing in all major projects and promote gentle density, like triplexes and accessory dwellings. Create a community land trust to maintain affordable and collectively owned housing. Repurpose underutilized buildings. By mobilizing provincial and federal funds, Verdun can become a model of mixed, inclusive, and affordable neighborhoods.

Céline-Audrey
Beauregard

Projet Montréal
Team Luc Rabouin

The central aim of the 2024-2027 economic development plan is to: “Preserve the reputation and vibrancy of the promenade…” To do this, we plan to support local initiatives, encourage various modes of transportation, create opportunities to attract Verdun residents, and consider innovative and mixed real estate models to ensure affordability on our artery. Following the public consultation on the year-round pedestrianization project, we will collaborate with the BDC, members, and residents to reduce nuisances, animate the street occasionally outside pedestrianization, and optimize layout to improve the pedestrian experience.

Geneviève
Desautels

Ensemble Montréal
Team Soraya

We want to support the development of Wellington Street by relying on a strong partnership with merchants, the BDC, and owners to preserve its unique character and ensure a diversified and accessible commercial offer. In our view, construction sites around Wellington must be planned and coordinated to minimize impacts, always in consultation with local stakeholders. Finally, we also want to improve accessibility to businesses, on Wellington but also elsewhere in Verdun and on Île-des-Sœurs, to meet the needs of all residents and encourage a strong and balanced local economy.

Christopher
Steel

Transition Montréal
Team Craig Sauvé

Wellington Street was named the coolest street in the world by Time Out in 2022—proof of Verdun’s creativity and community spirit. But to become the best street in the world, it must meet everyone’s needs. Local consultations (OCPM, 2023) and businesses like Copette & Cie remind us that change must balance accessibility, commerce, and community life. This balance relies on inclusive design, predictable construction work, and partnership with merchants, for a street that’s lively year-round, welcoming to residents, workers, and visitors.

Céline-Audrey
Beauregard

Projet Montréal
Team Luc Rabouin

We will move forward with the pumptrack project on Île-des-Sœurs in 2026. It was a commitment in Projet Montréal’s local platform in Verdun in 2021, and during the term we analyzed different locations and conducted necessary studies. Adrien D.-Archambault Park has been selected for the installation of this facility accessible to all ages and in all seasons. We want to enhance sports facilities offerings: basketball court, tennis wall, athletics track, pickleball. We can also occupy the lot acquired on Chemin du Golf with temporary facilities.

Geneviève
Desautels

Ensemble Montréal
Team Soraya

Île-des-Sœurs has a significant infrastructure deficit that must be corrected quickly. However, the pumptrack ranked far behind other projects in the borough’s survey, and its costs have doubled in one year. Its appropriateness must therefore be reassessed to ensure investments are justified. Moreover, demand for a synthetic soccer field is strong: more than 1,200 youth could play there locally, in complete safety. We therefore commit to prioritizing this facility, which responds to an urgent need widely expressed by families in Île-des-Sœurs and Verdun.

Christopher
Steel

Transition Montréal
Team Craig Sauvé

Move forward with the pumptrack on Île-des-Sœurs following public consultation, ensuring safety, responsible management, and accessibility for all. Design the facility to be sustainable, with low environmental impact and requiring little maintenance, integrating protective measures like monitoring brown snake habitat and using sustainable materials when possible. Add outdoor training areas and improve trail lighting to promote active lifestyles year-round. Modernize multi-purpose fields and guarantee everyone access to at least one fully accessible park and splash pad.

Céline-Audrey
Beauregard

Projet Montréal
Team Luc Rabouin

It is not possible for boroughs to be in operational deficit. During a term, accumulated budget surplus is sometimes used to balance fiscal years. The Verdun borough still has an accumulated budget surplus, but faces pressures explained by estimated revenues that don’t materialize as planned and significant unpredictable expenses often related to weather events (e.g., snowstorms). Our priority will be to maintain a balance between optimizing services and limiting tax increases. We also plan to continue our efforts to diversify our revenue sources.

Geneviève
Desautels

Ensemble Montréal
Team Soraya

Verdun must indeed repay approximately $300,000/year for four years and there is no longer a financial cushion to absorb unforeseen events. The outgoing administration has placed the borough in a more precarious situation. Previous surpluses helped limit pressure on taxes. We must now return to solid strategic planning, the kind we will have built together for Verdun. We will quickly implement predictable and transparent management, with accountability at each borough council meeting, supported by a public dashboard. Every dollar invested must be aligned with a long-term vision.

Christopher
Steel

Transition Montréal
Team Craig Sauvé

Protect essential services while reviewing expenses line by line. Freeze non-urgent hiring, consolidate contracts, and prioritize projects with external funding. Whenever possible, favor public workers over private ones to reduce costs and strengthen local capacity, as proposed by Transition Montréal’s public works initiative. Adjust rates transparently. Publish a quarterly financial dashboard to inform citizens and launch a participatory budget. Together, these measures ensure responsible management and strong public services that are equitable and accountable to the Montreal population.

Céline-Audrey
Beauregard

Projet Montréal
Team Luc Rabouin

In the last term, we created a portrait of business accessibility on Wellington. We want to go further and ensure universal accessibility of our commercial areas. Thus, when installing terraces or when requesting premises layout, modifications will be required. To do this, we must promote subsidy programs for this type of work while making representations to improve them. We commit to making necessary representations so that one of our metro stations becomes accessible. We will not give up given this major gain for the population.

Geneviève
Desautels

Ensemble Montréal
Team Soraya

Verdun was a leader in 2016, adopting its first universal accessibility plan, and we want to continue in this direction to ensure mobility for all citizens. We will help businesses adapt their premises, facilitate travel by adapted transport around Wellington in summer and Verdun Street, and exert our influence on the STM. We must assert the need for a metro station in the territory to have an elevator and for the bus network to be designed to facilitate travel to universally accessible stations.

Christopher
Steel

Transition Montréal
Team Craig Sauvé

Accelerate the installation of elevators and inclusive signage at Verdun metro station to make the borough accessible to everyone—from seniors to parents with strollers, to business visitors. Offer subsidies for adding ramps and automatic doors to eliminate daily obstacles. Conduct annual accessibility audits and publish results. Create a consulting service to help merchants adopt universal design and share solutions. Accessibility benefits everyone: it keeps seniors active, supports families, and welcomes diversity. This is what would make Verdun the coolest municipality in the world.

Céline-Audrey
Beauregard

Projet Montréal
Team Luc Rabouin

Local media play a significant role in increasing citizen participation. This is encouraged by accessible, reliable, and quality information. Thus, the municipal apparatus must provide information using multiple tools, channels, and partners to enable residents to understand their community well. This is why communication and citizen participation are among our five action priorities. One of our commitments is to develop and implement an action plan for citizen participation.

Geneviève
Desautels

Ensemble Montréal
Team Soraya

Local media play an essential role in reaching citizens and offering them a source of accurate and verified information, in a world where misinformation is increasingly widespread. They also allow citizens to know the opportunities available to them to actively participate in decisions that concern them, to get involved in their community, and to make their voices heard. Finally, by providing a neutral account of each borough council meeting or important event, they offer everyone who cannot attend the same opportunity to be informed.

Christopher
Steel

Transition Montréal
Team Craig Sauvé

Local media have an essential impact on our communities and can seek to inform, include, and inspire. Beyond news dissemination, they can highlight local solutions, connect citizens to participation opportunities, and make municipal processes more transparent. They amplify diverse voices—youth, seniors, newcomers, and community groups who shape Verdun’s future. By maintaining high journalistic standards, avoiding polarization, and reflecting Verdun’s diversity, they build public trust and transform awareness into citizen action for a community based on our shared human values.