Latest news with #MartinezFerrada
Montreal Gazette
4 days ago
- Politics
- Montreal Gazette
Martinez Ferrada pledges to consult borough mayors regularly if Ensemble Montréal wins election
Montreal Politics By Borough mayors would meet regularly if Soraya Martinez Ferrada is elected Nov. 2. Speaking to The Gazette Monday, the Ensemble Montréal leader said the current Projet Montréal administration has ignored the needs of the boroughs, to the point that Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante has not even met with some of them in years. As an example, she claimed Montréal-Nord mayor Christine Black told her recently that she hasn't had a sitdown meeting with Plante since 2021. She said if she becomes the mayor of Montreal, she will create a roundtable made up of all the mayors of the city's 19 boroughs, and it would meet regularly. Although, she did not say at what frequency. 'The idea is to make sure we are giving the boroughs more power of influence before the executive committee makes decisions,' she said. Martinez Ferrada said many of the decisions currently made by the executive committee don't take the specific experience of local boroughs into account. She gave the city's new snow-clearing policy as an example. 'I understand the idea was to save money, but I think we have to make sure that there is the space for everyone to make a decision, so that every citizen has the opportunity to have the same quality of services,' she said. The snow-clearing policy came under fire from several opposition boroughs earlier this year because of a lack of flexibility. The boroughs of LaSalle and St-Laurent were penalized for undertaking partial snow-clearing operations last Feb. 4 without the approval of the central city. 'I think as a mayor, you have to work with the other mayors, wherever they are,' Martinez Ferrada said. 'It's surprising to me that the mayor of Montréal-Nord has not sat down with the central city mayor.' Martinez Ferrada said the boroughs have also been asking for more funding under the Plante administration, complaining that the increases in allotments from the central city to the boroughs have not been in line with the inflation rate over the last few years. She recognizes that borough budgets are tight, and added that she would increase the amount the city doles out to its 19 boroughs. How much, however, has not yet been determined. 'I'm not there yet,' Martinez Ferrada said. 'We haven't figured out yet how we will address the needs and how we will fund things, but we also have to look at blue-collar workers, because many boroughs don't have enough people to give the services to their citizens.' Martinez Ferrada said that after nearly eight years of the Projet Montréal administration under Plante, Montrealers are ready for something new. 'People don't feel listened to,' she said. 'People are telling me it's very hard to have a conversation with the elected officials of Projet Montréal. We want to have a city for everyone and not leave anyone behind.' She added that Projet Montréal has polarized the city, and there is an impression that the party only caters to a certain segment of Montrealers.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Montreal mayoral candidate took in illegal security deposit from tenant renting her home
A candidate running to become Montreal's next mayor collected a security deposit from a tenant who is renting out her family home — a violation of Quebec law. The story was first reported by the Journal de Montréal. Soraya Martinez Ferrada, the leader of Ensemble Montréal, the Official Opposition at city hall, has promised to make housing more accessible in the city, recently dubbing herself as la mairesse du logement, French for "the mayor of housing." When her four-bedroom, semi-detached bungalow in the city's Saint-Michel neighbourhood was listed in 2023 with the asking price of $2,850 per month, the listing stated that the tenant needed to pay a "one month security deposit for the appliances." "This will be given [back] when the landlord collects the keys," the listing read. Article 1904 of the Quebec Civil Code outlines that a landlord may not "exact any amount of money other than the rent, in the form of a deposit or otherwise." The listing for the candidate's home also stated that the tenant would have to agree to pay a $175 cleaning fee, which is also illegal. Even though Martinez Ferrada's home has a tenant, the listing can still be viewed on the real estate agent's website, but it doesn't mention anything about a deposit. CBC News was able to obtain the original listing with the stipulation about the security deposit and the cleaning fee through Centris, a real estate website with a vast inventory of properties on sale and for rent. Speaking with reporters on Monday, Martinez Ferrada said she entrusted a real estate agent with listing her property. She described requesting and collecting the security deposit as an "error in good faith." In Quebec, a deposit is only valid if the tenant pays it voluntarily and without any pressure from the landlord. $1,000 fee, not $2,850, Martinez Ferrada claims Despite the fee being described in the listing as a "one month" charge, Martinez Ferrada denied the Journal de Montréal report that the tenant paid her $2,850 — which would be the equivalent of one month of rent at the price that was listed. The mayoral candidate claims the tenant paid her $1,000 and that the deposit was not for rent but rather for appliances that she had purchased for the home. She said she only realized she had collected the sum from the tenant after a journalist contacted her about the situation. She said the money has since been given back to the tenant. The mayoral candidate did not address the cleaning fee during her news conference Monday, but a spokesperson for her party told CBC News that fee was never charged despite what was written in the listing. Only the $1,000 security deposit was charged, the spokesperson said. "It's a mistake that happens far too often in Montreal," Martinez Ferrada said Monday. "When mistakes happen, you have to take responsibility for them." Martinez Ferrada was elected as the MP for the Hochelaga riding in 2019. In 2023, she was appointed as the federal tourism minister under Justin Trudeau's Liberal government. In February of this year, she quit federal politics with the goal of becoming Montreal's next mayor. Later that month, she became the leader of Ensemble Montréal. She was the only candidate in the race. On Monday, the candidate said she would continue referring to herself as the "mayor of housing." "Part of being mayor is taking responsibility for your actions and that's what I'm doing today," she said. No one's above the law, Projet Montréal leader says In addition to being an MP and Canada's tourism minister, Martinez Ferrada also served as the parliamentary secretary for the federal housing minister. In this year's municipal elections, she'll be going up against Luc Rabouin, who took over from Valérie Plante as the leader for Projet Montréal in March. When asked about the deposit and fees included in the listing for Martinez Ferrada's property, Rabouin said no one was above the law, "especially if you aspire to become the mayor of Montreal." "Two-thirds of Montrealers are tenants and they absolutely need to understand and believe that the future mayor of Montreal understands their reality and will be there to defend their rights," he said. Francis Dolan, a community organizer with Regroupement information logement de Pointe-Saint-Charles, a housing rights group, said in an email the controversy "puts into perspective our elected representatives' poor understanding" of the reality of renters. Quebec's municipal elections will be held on Nov. 2. WATCH | Martinez Ferrada outlines her vision for the city:
Globe and Mail
06-02-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Politics Insider: Liberal campaign co-chair quits to run for mayor of Montreal
Hello, welcome to Politics Insider. Let's look at what happened today. The national co-chair for the Liberal campaign in the coming election has quit to run for mayor of Montreal. Soraya Martinez Ferrada's exit comes as the Liberals get set to choose a new party leader to succeed Justin Trudeau and after opposition parties said they will vote against the government when the House of Commons sits again on March. 24. The MP for Hochelaga since 2019 also quit her post as tourism minister in a letter posted to social media. Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante is not seeking re-election. The other co-chair for the Liberal campaign is Sports Minister Terry Duguid, who is also Minister for Prairies Economic Development. After her announcement, Martinez Ferrada was replaced as tourism minister by Pascale St-Onge, the Heritage Minister. In a statement, the Prime Minister's Office said St-Onge would act as both Heritage Minister and Tourism Minister, as well as take on Martinez Ferrada's former role as minister for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec. Meanwhile, Liberal leadership candidate Karina Gould said today that the party made it 'hard' to run for the top job. She said the party establishment has tried as hard as possible to keep the field of candidates small, and now she's hustling to meet an 'extremely aggressive' fundraising deadline. This is the daily Politics Insider newsletter, written by Ian Bailey. It is available exclusively to our digital subscribers. You can sign up for more than 20 other newsletters on our signup page. Canada should discuss new east-west oil pipeline, Natural Resources Minister says: Jonathan Wilkinson says Canada should have a national conversation about such a pipeline, given the protectionist threats from the United States. Donald Trump's choice for chief trade negotiator calls for tighter auto origin rules: Jamieson Greer, speaking today at a Senate confirmation hearing for the position of United States Trade Representative, said the continental trade agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico should be updated to tighten rules of origin for car production and improve market access for American farmers. Ottawa ends boycott of advertising spending on Meta platforms: The federal government stopped purchasing ad space from Facebook's parent company in July, 2023, after the California-based firm blocked all news content on its platforms in Canada. Opposition calls for RCMP investigation into firing of Alberta Health Services CEO: The leader of Alberta's opposition New Democratic Party is demanding an investigation into allegations that government officials, including Premier Danielle Smith's then-chief of staff, interfered with the provincial health authority's procurement process on behalf of private companies. How This Hour Has 22 Minutes tapped Canadian fury in a viral trade-war sketch: Capturing the mood of Canadians planning their resistance at the cash register to Donald Trump's threatened tariffs, Mark Critch's short comic scene has so far amassed more than 11 million views on TikTok – and more than five million in separate videos posted on Facebook and Instagram. Note to Mark Carney: There is no such thing as a free lunch for carbon costs The Dutch and Danes have much to teach Canada about better health care Justin Trudeau's final disgrace: Leaving Parliament prorogued during a crisis Which five White House officials – by title – are named in U.S. President Donald Trump's Monday executive order as being responsible for monitoring the Canada-U.S. border during the pause in tariff action? Scroll to the bottom of this newsletter for the answer. Got a news tip that you'd like us to look into? E-mail us at tips@ Need to share documents securely? Reach out via SecureDrop. The answer to today's question: The officials are the Secretary of Homeland Security in consultation with the Secretary of State, the Attorney-General, the assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security.
