Carol-Ann Hoyte didn’t plan on politics. The Côte-des-Neiges native, mother, poet and 24-year veteran of children’s literature explains to the CONTACT, “the opportunity found me.” Now she’s running for city councillor with the fledgling Transition Montréal – Craig Sauvé Team.
“I never had an interest in politics,” Hoyte said. “Once I met Craig Sauvé and heard the platform fresh ideas to better serve Montrealers I realized I wanted to help build something new.”
Hoyte was born at St. Mary’s Hospital and baptized at St. Paul’s Anglican Church, both in the area where she lives and is seeking office. She notes the geography can be confusing: she’s in the Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough, and her district is also called Côte-des-Neiges—one of three in the borough. “I’m running in part of Côte-des-Neiges, not all of it,” she said.
Since 2015, Hoyte has served on the board of Geordie Theatre, the English-language company known for youth productions. She is events and program manager at the Canadian Children’s Book Centre. “I’ve worked in children’s literature since 2001, 24 years in different roles,” she said.
Her campaign is framed around day-to-day concerns. “Montrealers deserve the best possible quality of life,” Hoyte said. “It’s at city hall that I can affect people’s daily lives.”
She is pushing employers to adopt a living-wage standard distinct from the provincially set minimum wage. “A living wage is calculated for each city so people can cover shelter, food, clothing and childcare and maybe a modest vacation,” she said. “You retain people longer. They’re happier. And you’re not keeping them in poverty.”
Housing is the other pillar. “Everyone talks about affordable housing. I want affordable, safe, clean housing,” Hoyte said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s ‘affordable’ if it’s infested with vermin or the ceiling might fall on your head.”
Access to food and culture rounds out her platform. “We need more permanent, year-round farmers markets beyond Jean-Talon and Atwater so people can buy healthy food close to home,” she said. She also wants subsidized access to arts for low-income families and better conditions in public schools.
Her background shapes her messaging. “Kids’ books are powerful launchpads for social-justice conversations food insecurity, domestic abuse, homelessness,” she said. “We can use them to spark dialogue.”
On public safety, she favours partnership. “There’s always room to improve community–police relations,” Hoyte said. “I’d like to build more constructive, supportive relationships in the district.”
Hoyte says she chose Transition Montréal for its mix of new faces and experienced leadership. “Even though it’s a new party, our leader has been a city councillor for 12 years that’s more than the experience of the other two main parties combined,” she said. “I was hearing a different narrative fresh idea for long-standing problems.”
Those ideas include a social transit tariff discounted monthly passes at roughly 60 per cent of the price for residents earning $47,500 or less an ultra-rich property surtax on homes valued around $3.5 million and higher to fund community groups, social housing and homelessness responses, and a network of 200 to 250 heated, maintained public washrooms. The party also backs a Nighttime Council and “night mayor” to mediate nightlife issues so police can focus on emergencies. “Clean, accessible toilets and smarter nightlife governance sound small, but they’re very practical,” she said.
Hoyte wants to reset the narrative about her neighbourhood. “Côte-des-Neiges sometimes gets a bad rap,” she explained. “Yes, some parts need TLC. But that’s not the whole story.” She points to the district’s assets: “It’s reported there are 135 languages spoken here. We have the Jewish General, St. Mary’s and CHU Sainte-Justine; Université de Montréal; St. Joseph’s Oratory; Beaver Lake on Mount Royal.”
“Give someone who looks like me a chance to support and champion the community’s causes,” Hoyte said. “I’m clever, no-nonsense, fair, fun, and compassionate. My roots are here. I live here. That already says something about my commitment.”
Representation matters, she added, “seeing a woman of colour, an Anglophone who was born here, run in this neighbourhood shows there’s possibility for a life that looks different, because the person who will be your eyes and ears might look like you.”
The municipal elections will be held on November 2, 2025. Citizens are encouraged to exercise their democratic right and vote.
