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The independent option >> In a race crowded with like-minded dullards, there are still some independent candidates on the municipal ballot by DOMINIQUE RITTER and PHILIP PREVILLE After more than four months of campaigning for the mayor's chair, one of the candidates finally made a noise that resonated in the public imagination. By threatening to quit. Late last week, Jean Doré woke Montrealers from their sound, collective political slumber to announce that, with only one week left in the campaign, he might withdraw from the race. The excitement was short-lived; within 48 hours, Doré announced he was still running, serving notice to all voters that they should go back to sleep. The entire non-event has become the defining moment in the municipal campaign. In a race crowded with dreadfully dull personalities--the wooden Doré, the pudgy Duchesneau (one would expect something more colourful from an ex-cop), the nondescript Michel Prescott and the bumbling Pierre Bourque--nothing was more exciting than the promise that one of them might go away. The biggest unanswered question of this campaign is why, despite the sameness and the lameness of these four candidates and their parties, they have dominated mainstream coverage of the campaign. Montrealers, particularly those in the greater Plateau area, can also choose from a number of independent candidates when they vote on November 1. These are the candidates who speak their mind--even though they don't necessarily have much to say. In these final days leading up to the vote, the Mirror has taken the trouble to introduce you to them. Mayor If the four main mayoral candidates seem boring to you, you're in luck: there are more choices than you have been led to believe. But although they appear on the ballot as independents, they are not as independent as they seem.
But behind the humourous façade lies an engaging electoral platform. Alie doesn't believe in parking meters ("they penalize people for nothing"), he's in favour of an island-city amalgamation, he's against building a new downtown ballpark for the Expos ("It's a plot to take profitable ventures out of the public sector") and he's against snowplows ("the streets should be cleaned by people with mechanical brooms, to create more jobs").
Dugré has no plans to re-jig city zoning regulations for agricultural use. But he does have some other ideas, including the creation of the four-day workweek, an idea that is often bandied about during elections but which, to their credit, only Communists ever defend. If elected (which he knows won't happen), Dugré would also start throwing city hall's weight around on the international stage: Dugré is an ardent defender of the Cuban revolution and stands firmly against NATO intervention in Eastern Europe. Should neither of these two candidates suit your voting preference, there is also a final wild-card option on the ballot. Independent candidate Patricia Métivier did not return the Mirror's calls, so we have no idea what she's all about. District 23: Laurier (North of Mont-Royal between Henri-Julien and Papineau)
But what Munger lacks in swank he makes up for in passion: he spends his days picking up trash and making "expositions" out of the things he finds in other people's garbage. His "art," which is displayed in various public venues in the 'hood, is up for grabs. The Thermoses, pillows and basketballs he puts on display in local parks are only there to find new owners. Munger's platform includes creating 200 new low-income housing units and transforming the old incinerator at Brébeuf and St-Grégoire into an "Eco-Parc" garbage recycling centre. Munger is hoping the police will stop arresting him for disturbing the peace--he maintains that he is only fulfilling a civic duty--and he says the money the city regularly spends housing him in the slammer should go to pay his salary as city councillor. District 22: Plateau Mont-Royal (from Sherbrooke to Mont-Royal, between Laval and Papineau)
She says that there are three good reasons to vote for her: 1. She can't do worse than the other candidates. 2. People have to vote for her if they want to see what she can do. 3. She is a Québécoise and was born on the island of Montreal. And what has she got that her opponents haven't? Well, she says that she once worked as a cook for the U.S. Navy and jumped off a boat near the coast of Spain. How does translate into political know-how? "I'm a survivor," she answers. District 14: Saint-Édouard
(aka Little Italy, north of the tracks to
Clearly, she is a nice woman with some nice ideas about how to make her neighbourhood nicer. And interestingly, she has some money backing her: there are 400 yellow signs sporting her nice face. A vote for Anna Baggio is a vote for mom. District 24: Mile-End (Mont-Royal to the tracks, between Parc and Henri-Julien)
"The good people who go for a smoked meat make me proud," he says, and he wouldn't want to infringe on their karnatzel munching pleasures. He doesn't like to criticize his opponents, but says none of them have accomplished anything for the neighbourhood, claiming that the district's current rep, Helen Fotopulos, hasn't shown her face since the last municipal election. As city councillor, he says, he would create new jobs, improve public transportation and "free this area of drug traffickers." Judging by the smiles of the constituents he meets, Georgiou says he will win the vote in his district. And he must have someone running scared, because he says people have been defacing his posters. Georgiou says he doesn't know who's giving the orders for the other candidates, but that "I have 17 nephews and I have asked them to respect everyone else's property."
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Laurent Alie is actually the leader of the Moose Party, so named because Alie believes the horned, hooved beast is the perfect symbol of the Canadian citizen: naïve and vulnerable to the call of hunters. Alie, who makes his living teaching French and laying bricks, counts Groucho Marx among his role models: "I'm here to make light of the situation, and to make people think a bit."
The other pseudo-independent candidate for mayor, Michel Dugré, is actually the leader of the Communist League. And, like all Communists, he's an extremely earnest and committed individual who, unfortunately, seems to be living in a time warp. His campaign literature reads, "For a Workers and Farmers Government"--which would be a real barnburner of a slogan if there were any farmers left in Montreal. "The point is that we choose not to defend large corporations," Dugré explains.
Denis Munger could be the poster boy for freaky-fringe politics. Independent candidate for city councillor in the Laurier district, Munger may be spotted wearing a crushed soda can pinned to his bosom and a roll of used camera film wrapped around his shoddy fedora. Well-manicured, he's not. In fact, his hands are always dirty.
Magella Gagné has spent a decade of her life travelling the world and has visited 67 countries. She calls herself an adventurist and claims that her travels have broadened her life experience. Her main platform: to crack down on illegal immigration by having everyone's papers "verified." Her long-term objective: to be a player in the National Assembly.
Anna Baggio doesn't want to make election promises, she refuses to criticize her opponents and she won't comment on the proposal for a downtown ballpark. In a nutshell: Anna Baggio is not out to play political hardball. Having spent the last 20 years more or less as a professional volunteer, she prefers to talk about her desire to help the elderly and provide better lighting in the streets.
The temptation must be there, but Evripidis Georgiou insists that he doesn't mix city politics with smoked meat. This Schwartz's waiter doesn't believe in campaigning on the job.