Mayoral candidate Balarama Holness (his holiness if you will) was coasting along in seemingly tranquil political waters.
Then on the weekend of Saturday, October 9, came news that his Mouvement Montreal party had been denied the privilege to participate in the party leaders debate alongside incumbent mayor Valérie Plante of Projet Montréal and former mayor Denis Coderre of Ensemble Montréal.
Organized by the Montreal Chamber of Commerce, the Mouvement Montreal party leader mildly protested the Chamber’s decision to not invite him, telling various media outlets at the time that his party met the criteria for inclusion in the October 18 debate on the economy, one being that, “…a candidate for Mayor must obtain at least 10 percent of support in an independent poll published at least 72 hours before the debate and present a candidate in at least 75 percent of the districts.”
This is corroborated by an online article which states “One recent Leger poll at the time leading up to the debate had Holness at 10 per cent, and he has candidates running in most Montreal districts.”
At the time Holness said his party checked positive in those categories. But the MCC decision remained.
In a parting political shot at the time, Holness said he was being shut out by the existing parties “slow homogeneous institutions that are not ready for change…”
Perhaps it was some of their supporters who took Holness’ comment as a slight, so much so that those always reliable haters finally emerged from the anonymity of their social media enclaves to remind us (or is it him?) that they’re not dormant, just always ready and willing to do their usual dirty work: racial hate-mongering… targeting the Mouvement Montreal leader as a reminder.
Their racist content also included apparent “death threats” as Holness also stated on late night television news.
Not surprisingly some callers on talk radio also questioned the veracity of “the death threat message, accusing Holness of attempting to score political points for his upstart political party.
At the time, the duo agreed and believed that combining resources would make the alliance a stronger third option to Valérie Plante’s Projet Montréal and Denis Coderre’s Ensemble Montréal.
Others from past generations as well as in recent history have worn Holness’s shoes, leaving written as well as oral works of harrowing memories and details of “firsts.”
Balarama Holness is simply treading historic paths where others have done in the past, and were subjected to similar reception and pushback: social norms of the day. Bad habits and practices still die hard. But he’s not, won’t be deterred by haters, zealots and threats… As stated before, he’s focussed on change. Visit Mouvement Montréal website and learn more about the party’s platform.
Much had been made of what at the time appeared to be a viable coalition of Mouvement Montreal and another upstart party Raillement Pour Montréal led by Marc Antoine Bedard.
But the parties turned out to be politically and ideologically oppositional. Holness’ “bilingual Montreal plan” and Raillement Pour Montréal’s “better protection for the French language in Montreal meant the short-lived courtship/merger was off, untenable.
At the time the duo believed that combining resources would make the new alliance a stronger and viable third option to Valérie Plante’s Projet Montréal and Denis Coderre’s Ensemble Montréal.
So it’s back to three parties, anchored by the new and fresh viable upstart, Mouvement Montréal.
So will Balarama Holness be forced to backtrack on any of his campaign promises?
All he’s saying right now is “We need to make sure that all Montrealers are aware of the platform of Movement Montreal, of Ensemble Montreal and Projét Montréal, so all Montrealers can make an informed decision on
November 7.”
You be the judge.
Others from past generations as well as in recent history have worn Holness’s shoes, leaving written as well as oral works of harrowing memories and details of “firsts.”
Balarama Holness is simply treading historic paths where others have in the past, and were subjected to similar reception and social norms of the day. Bad habits and practices still die hard. But he’s not, won’t be deterred by haters, zealots and threats… As stated before, he’s focused on change. “We need to make sure that all Montrealers are aware of the platform of Movement Montreal, of Ensemble Montreal and Projét Montréal, so all Montrealers can make an informed decision on Nov. 7,” Holness says, adding that he wonders if his party was left out of the Chamber of Commerce leaders’ debate because of its platform.
You be the judge.
Others from past generations as well as in recent history have worn Holness’s shoes, leaving written as well as oral works of harrowing memories and details of “firsts.”
Balarama Holness is simply treading historic paths where others have in the past, and were subjected to similar reception and social norms of the day. Bad habits and practices still die hard. But he’s not, won’t be deterred by haters, zealots and threats… As stated before, he’s focused on change.
Visit Mouvement Montréal website and learn more about the party’s platform.
Serendipity lives. All’s not lost for Holness’ mayoral hopes; he’ll have another opportunity to talk to Montrealers at the upcoming English-language mayoral debate, October 18, on local English radio and television at 5:30 P.M.
