Valérie Plante and Aref Salem preach collaboration, but they sound combative

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Newly re-elected mayor Valérie Plante and new opposition leader Aref Salem said collaboration was a priority in their remarks after the ceremony at the Palais des congrès on Thursday night to swear in all elected municipal officials. But they didn’t seem particularly collaborative in their comments, both saying they didn’t think the other party was showing a cooperative spirit.

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“Hopefully we are working collaboratively,” Plante said. “During the first term, most of the things that were presented by our administration did not get the approval of the opposition. I am not saying that they are wrong. I’m just saying that they have always been black or white. Definitely all candidates have heard the same about housing, public safety, green transition. Whatever the party, we hear those things. So we have to work together to find solutions to those (problems). “

When asked about the collaboration, Ensemble Montréal leader Salem directly attacked management for not collaborating.

“We are collaborative, we are going to be collaborative, we were collaborative, but the problem is when you promise something and you don’t deliver, well, we probably won’t be as collaborative as we should because if you promise, you deliver … and if you can’t deliver, don’t promise”, Salem said. “We will work for the best in our community. But I will work with the administration to make sure the lawsuit to the federal government (to stop the flow of illegal weapons across the border) is accepted. We will work as one voice. “

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The rise in gun violence in the city is of great concern to both Plante and Salem, and they are aware that the public is very concerned about security concerns following the shooting death of 16-year-old Thomas Trudel in St -Michel. last weekend, the third teenager killed in Montreal this year.

“When we talk about arms trafficking and criminalized groups, there is no single answer or solution,” Plante said. “I wish I had a magic wand and everything would be fine. All levels must work together. I can talk about provincial, federal, but ultimately, for safety on our streets, it’s definitely working with community groups, working with the SPVM, ensuring there are more police. … I will not sit back and see that the federal (government) is not part of the solution. I’m not going to accept that because I don’t have the capacity to go to the border so there are no more weapons coming in. I don’t have that power… it’s a matter of all levels taking responsibility and not right now. ‘ I think the federal government is taking responsibility. “

“We have three teenagers who passed away (for no) reason,” Salem said. “And we know that now there is a promise from Projet Montréal, which was copied from our platform, about hiring 250 police officers. We will follow them. We are going to make sure we hire these 250 police officers, not in six months, not in a year, but we are going to start arriving right now. “

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