Projet Montréal (officially Projet Montréal - Équipe Luc Rabouin) is a progressive, environmentalist municipal political party in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 2004, it is led by Ericka Alneus and is the opposition party in the Montreal City Council.
History Projet Montréal was founded by environmental activists in 2004. Richard Bergeron was the party's first mayoral candidate. He was elected to the city council in 2005 and gathered 8.53% of the vote for mayor.
In the September 2006 by-election held in the district of Marie-Victorin, Projet Montréal candidate and former city councillor Kettly Beauregard won 31.7% of the vote, for a second-place finish.
In December 2007, candidate took second place with 37.43% in a by-election to replace disgraced Outremont borough mayor Stephane Harbour. At the same time, there was a by-election in Outremont's Robert-Bourassa district to replace Marie Cinq-Mars, who chose to run for borough mayor. Candidate Denise Rochefort also placed second, with 35.13% of the vote.
In the 2009 Montreal municipal election, Bergeron led the party through steadily increasing polls to a strong third-place showing, winning thirteen seats on city and borough councils, including two borough mayors, and sweeping the Plateau-Mont-Royal.
In April 2012, Érika Duchesne won a by-election in the Vieux-Rosemont district of Rosemont-La Petite Patrie, giving Project Montréal its 11th seat on city council.
In the 2013 Montreal municipal election, Projet Montréal doubled its number of seats within city council, going from 10 to 20 and becoming the official opposition against Denis Coderre's team. After the election, Richard Bergeron stated that he would resign his party leadership within the next 12 or 24 months. He admitted that he was disappointed with the election results but that he would remain to make Projet Montréal into a true opposition to Coderre's administration.
In the 2017 Montreal municipal election, Projet Montréal had won a majority of seats in the city council as well as having its mayoral candidate Valérie Plante become the mayor of Montreal. The party won an increased majority in the 2021 Montreal municipal election. On 23 October 2024, Plante announced that she will not seek a third term in the 2025 municipal election. With Luc Rabouin at the party's helm, Projet Montréal returned to opposition, with Rabouin resigning as party leader on election night.
Platform
Projet Montréal advocates sustainable urbanism, which is the application of the principles of sustainable development to an urban setting, such as downtown Montreal. One of the party's proposals consists of building light rail in order to do the following: reduce car traffic; give more room to pedestrians and cyclists; increase the residents' quality of life and reverse urban sprawl.
Projet Montréal's 2009 platform elaborates commitments for seven major aspects of urban living:
Renewal and expansion of participatory democracy Affordable housing and reinforcing socio-urban tissue Sustainable transport (public transit and active transit) Environmental sustainability Economic development Culture Accountability and public services
Electoral results Mayoral election Election Candidate Votes % Status Result 2005 Richard Bergeron 32,126 8.53 3rd 2009 Richard Bergeron 106,768 25.45 3rd 2013 Richard Bergeron 118,637 25.52 3rd 2017 Valérie Plante 243,594 51.42 1st 2021 Valérie Plante 217,986 52.14 1st 2025 Luc Rabouin 144,235 35.05 2nd
City council Election City council seats +/– Position Result 2005 1 3rd 2009 9 3rd 2013 10 2nd 2017 14 1st 2021 3 1st 2025 12 2nd
References
External links Projet Montréal Official website