In Longueuil, mayoral the race is between just two candidates. Catherine Fournier is seeking re-election with Coalition Longueil. “We want to make sure that we preserve what we have. We want to invest in our infrastructure that already exists,” said Fournier. Her opponent is Sacha Parisella, a new candidate in a newly-formed party called Agora Longueuil. “The most important (thing) that I can give to the citizens is a voice,” said Parisella. Fournier was elected as Longueuil’s mayor for the first time in 2021 with 61 per cent of the vote. If she wins this time, her focus is on the city’s infrastructure, by renovating certain areas instead of starting from scratch. “We want to find solutions in order to lower the infrastructure cost. But now our priority will be to invest in what already exists,” Fournier explained. In addition, she is emphasizing the importance of collaboration with other levels of government during this campaign. “What people expect is that we work together, because we’ve been democratically elected by the population in order to represent them,” she said. As for Parisella, he said the reason he decided to form his party and run for mayor a few months ago when he realized that Fournier was about to run unopposed. “For the democracy, it’s not possible to only have one person, it’s very important to have an opposition. And that’s why I’m doing this now,” Parisella told CTV News. Despite joining the race a bit later, he feels she can be a better voice for the city. One of the candidates will be elected as the mayor of one of Quebec’s largest cities on Nov. 2.
