Sam Hamad

Hamad recruits two sitting councillors for City Hall team

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Hamad recruits two sitting councillors for City Hall team

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

Mayoral candidate Sam Hamad now has two sitting municipal councillors on his own slate of candidates.

Isabelle Roy, councillor for the Robert-Giffard district in Beauport, and Louis Martin, councillor for Cap-Rouge–Laurentien and former speaker of the city council, will run under Hamad’s Leadership Québec banner.

Both were councillors for the opposition Québec d’abord party, but in March leader Claude Villeneuve booted Roy from the caucus when reports surfaced she had talked to Hamad about joining his party. Martin, who had also had discussions with Hamad, quit the party on his own shortly afterwards.

As members of Québec d’abord, both councillors supported the tramway project, an initiative of the previous administration of Régis Labeaume. Hamad opposes the project in its current concept as a costly system citizens do not want.

Both councillors, when the QCT contacted them, offered explanations for the change of position. Roy said, “I don’t think I’ve been the biggest cheerleader for the tramway project in the last three years. The abandonment of the D’Estimauville branch of the tramway was the breaking point for my support.”

She said, “The citizens of Quebec deserve efficient mobility across the entire territory, and the project Mr. Hamad will be putting forward is a step in that very direction.”

Martin said, “I’ve always been in favour of improving public transit in the city. It does not matter what vehicle – tramway, subway, bus – we need more transit, quickly. I saw Mr. Hamad’s proposal and I am convinced that it’s the best project to improve public transit in the city, quickly, for all neighbourhoods, at a price we can afford.”

Martin said Hamad plans to unveil his alternative transit plan as early as this week.

As far as why she joined Hamad’s team, Roy said the former provincial Liberal MNA and minister “is an authentic leader, capable of bringing people together and moving major issues forward by rallying the right people around the table.”

The addition of Roy and Martin now gives Leadership Québec seven confirmed candidates so far for the 21 districts. Hamad does not plan to run for a council seat as some mayoral candidates have chosen to do.

Québec d’abord now has only two sitting councillors who plan to run again, Patricia Boudreault-Bruyère in Neufchâtel–Lebourgneuf and Véronique Dallaire in Saules–Les Méandres. Longtime councillor Anne Corriveau announced earlier this month she does not plan to run again in her Pointe- de-Sainte-Foy district.

Besides the two incumbents, the other Québec d’abord candidates are Rosie-Anne R. Vallières in Vanier-Duberger, a seat being vacated by Alicia Despins, and Sophie Gosselin in Lac-Saint-Charles–Saint-Émile. Villeneuve, who is running for mayor for the first time, is the councillor for Maizerets-Lairet.

The large field of mayoral candidates became even larger over the weekend when former City Hall opposition leader and mayoral candidate Anne Guérette announced she was running for mayor again under the banner of the newly created Parti du Monde – Équipe Anne Guérette. Since stepping down as leader of the now-defunct Démocratie Québec party in 2017, Guérette, an architect, has become a vocal opponent of the tramway project. She joins incumbent mayor Bruno Marchand, Villeneuve, Hamad, Transition Québec leader Jackie Smith and Respect Citoyens leader Stéphane Lachance on the lengthening list of candidates. Municipal elections will be held across Quebec on Nov. 2.

With files from Ruby Pratka, LJI reporter

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Hamad announces first two candidates for City Hall campaign

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , ,

Hamad announces first two candidates for City Hall campaign

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

Mayoral candidate Sam Hamad introduced the first two candidates for his Leadership Québec party, both of whom have backgrounds working within the provincial government.

At a news conference held in a crowded chauffeur’s cottage at Domaine Cataraqui on May 29, Hamad said Justine Savard and Jean-Stéphane Bernard “embody the strong, unifying leadership we want to offer the citizens of Quebec City. They each have an impressive track record, deep roots in their communities, and are ready to fully invest in improving the quality of life in their neighbourhoods.”

Savard, a lawyer who has worked in the office of Coalition Avenir Québec ministers Sonia LeBel and the late Nadine Girard, ran for the party in the 2022 election in the Montreal riding of Viau.

Savard will be running in the Beauport district of Sainte-Thérèse-de-Lisieux, a seat currently held by executive committee member and former mayoral candidate Jean-François Gosselin, who has announced he will not run again for city council.

Bernard, a CEGEP Champlain-St. Lawrence graduate who went on to earn degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the École nationale d’administration publique (ENAP) and Université Laval, is a former deputy minister of international relations and Canadian relations, who has also served as Quebec’s representative in Washington and New England.

Bernard will run in the Saint-Louis–Sillery district, currently held by executive committee member Maude Mercier Larouche, who has also said she is not running again.

Bernard, a resident of Sillery since he was a child, said the leap into politics is “just a continuity of what I’ve been doing for the last 30 years, working for the people of Quebec City, working for the people of the district that I wish to represent.”

In an interview with the QCT, he said he is “honoured, to be honest, to have this op- portunity to work with some- one who’s the leader that Quebec City needs.”

Savard, for her part, said she got back into elected politics at the municipal level, because “I’m a working mom and I’m really, really fond of my community and I saw a couple of things in the city that weren’t sitting well for me. So I decided that may- be with Sam Hamad we can change the course of things.”

Asked what she learned as a provincial candidate three years ago, Simard said, “I think I’m a better listener now,” having had the experience of knocking on doors to hear what citizens have to say.

During the news conference, neither candidate was willing to venture a specific opinion on the tramway project, whereas Hamad, who op- poses the plan, said he would release his party’s detailed platform “before the [summer] holidays.”

Hamad also responded to questions about the CAQ government’s “third link” bridge project, the location of which is supposed to be announced in June. He downplayed a comment he had made previously in favour of a bridge to the west near the current spans.

He said, “I will let the specialists decide technically where it should go, with acceptability and [the least] in- convenience” for the citizens of the city.

Hamad, incumbent mayor and Québec Forte et Fière Leader Bruno Marchand, Transition Québec Leader Jackie Smith and Québec d’abord Leader Claude Villeneuve are the declared candidates for city hall so far. Respect Citoyens Leader Stéphane Lachance has also said he plans to run for mayor, although recent reporting by Radio-Canada has cast doubt on whether he meets the residency requirement.

Municipal elections will be held across Quebec on Nov. 2.

Hamad announces first two candidates for City Hall campaign Read More »

Former Quebec Liberal cabinet minister Sam Hamad runs for mayor

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Former Quebec Liberal cabinet minister Sam Hamad runs for mayor

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

It’s official. After months of speculation and a certain amount of teasing, Sam Hamad has entered the race for mayor of Quebec City.

The 67-year-old former provincial Liberal cabinet minister and MNA for Louis-Hébert made the announcement April 6 in front of an enthusiastic crowd of some 300 supporters packed into the Salle du Quai du Cap-Blanc meeting hall.

The site for the announcement, on Boul. Champlain, was a particularly symbolic one for Hamad, who said in his 15-minute speech that the creation of the three phases of the Promenade Champlain project was his proudest achievement.

Hamad, introduced by two Cégep de Ste-Foy students and his two sons, Jean-Simon and Louis-Joseph, said, “As you know, I left politics in 2017, but in reality, politics has never left me. Since then, I have found a quality of life, a rewarding job and precious time with my loved ones. It’s true, I have everything to lead a happy life, but I have always had the need to serve my community.”

Hamad was born in Syria and came to Canada in 1978 to study engineering. “I arrived in Quebec alone. Very young. All I had were two suitcases, but big dreams. This city welcomed me, it offered me exceptional opportunities and today, I feel more than ever a duty to give back to this city that has given me so much.”

Under the banner of a new party called Leadership Québec, Hamad said he is “running so that Quebec [City] can regain its momentum. So that it can start dreaming big again. So that we can finally emerge from the uncertainty, the division and the stagnation.”

First elected in Louis-Hébert in 2003, Hamad was a minister in a string of portfolios under Jean Charest and Philippe Couillard, including natural resources, labour, treasury board, economic development and transport, as well as minister for the capital region.

Besides the Promenade Champlain redevelopment, Hamad said he had “delivered the merchandise” for other major city projects, including the PEPS at Université Laval, the Videotron Centre, the expansion of the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec and the Hôpital de l’Enfant-Jésus.

Hamad noted his collaboration with former mayors Jean-Paul L’Allier and Régis Labeaume, former PQ minister and MNA for the downtown riding of Taschereau Agnès Maltais, Conservative MP Gérard Deltell and federal ministers and premiers from all parties.

“What has always guided me is working together in the best interests of the citizens of Quebec,” he said.

Hamad unveiled a five-point program at the launch: “Bring back strong, mobilizing leadership to Quebec City; put citizens back at the heart of municipal decisions; revive Quebec City’s economy with ambition and boldness; uphold its status as the national capital; and manage public finances responsibly, respecting taxpayers’ ability to pay.” As for his position on the current tramway project, Ha- mad said he would be laying out a detailed plan that serves both the downtown and the suburbs during the campaign. He has stated previously the tramway in its current form is too expensive. He told the QCT, “I will come back with this. It’s 210 days [in the campaign], so we have enough time to explain exactly what the project is, what we need.”

As for candidates for Leadership Québec, Hamad said, “I’ll launch with a solid team, rooted in the reality on the ground. We won’t campaign against an administration or another party. We’ll campaign for the citizens of Quebec. We want to rally all those who believe that Quebec can do better.”

Attendees the QCT spoke to cited Hamad’s experience as the main reason for support- ing him, as well as uncertainty about the tramway project.

One supporter was even more specific. Francine DeBlois, active in a Saint-Jean-Baptiste neighbourhood citizens group, said, “Hamad is a man who listens to us, which is not the case with the current mayor.” She said her group had gone to a city council meeting to raise concerns, but “it was always the same cassette. Everything was already decided.”

Besides Hamad, the other declared mayoral candidates are incumbent mayor Bruno Marchand of Quebec Forte et Fière, Claude Villeneuve of Quebec d’abord, Jackie Smith of Transition Québec and Stéphane Lachance of Parti Respect Citoyens.

Municipal elections in Quebec take place on Nov. 2.

Former Quebec Liberal cabinet minister Sam Hamad runs for mayor Read More »

Hamad to announce for mayor, Marchand loses councillors

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Hamad to announce for mayor, Marchand loses councillors 

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

The race for mayor of Quebec City in November is shaping up to feature at least four candidates, with former provincial Liberal minister Sam Hamad preparing to jump into the fray.

Several media outlets re- ported last week that Hamad, the former MNA for the suburban Louis-Hébert riding, has set April 6 as the date he will launch his campaign.

There are also reports Hamad has been in discussion with Équipe Priorité Québec (EPQ), the second Opposition at City Hall with two seats. The new interim leader of the party, Coun. Stevens Melançon, told reporters he would not be the party’s candidate for mayor. Former councillor Patrick Paquet had been party leader without a seat on council.

EPQ is the current name for the party that ran in the previous two elections as Québec 21, under the leadership of Coun. Jean-François Gosselin. Gosselin came a close third in the 2021 mayoral race, behind winner Bruno Marchand of Québec Forte et Fière and Marie-Josée Savard, running for what was the party of longtime mayor Régis Labeaume.

Gosselin joined the Marchand administration as executive committee member responsible for sports and recreation. He has decided to finish his term and not run again.

Hamad had been courting sitting councillors to join his team, including Louis Martin of Québec d’abord, who left the party two weeks ago and was voted out as council chair.

Another Hamad target was Isabelle Roy, councillor for the Robert-Giffard district;  Québec d’abord leader Claude Villeneuve kicked her out of the party caucus for having talks with Hamad.

A central plank of Hamad’s platform, according to his statements, will be opposition to the tramway project.

With this game of musical chairs underway, other councillors are joining Gosselin in departing City Hall. Pierre-Luc Lachance, the executive committee member responsible for finance and councillor for Saint-Roch–Saint-Sauveur, announced his departure several weeks ago.

Longtime councillor Steeve Verret of Lac-Saint-Charles–Saint-Émile has also let it be known he plans to leave city hall once his current term is up. He replaced Martin as chair of council following the latter’s ouster.

The other confirmed departure from Marchand’s team is Maude Mercier Larouche, the first-term councillor for Sainte-Foy–Sillery-Cap-Rouge and member of the executive committee responsible for the Réseau de Transport de la Capitale (RTC), as well as large projects.

She told reporters she is taking a break from politics to spend more time with her family and to take care of her mother.

Meanwhile, Québec d’abord has officially confirmed the party’s four remaining councillors will be running for re-election. They are Patricia Boudreault-Bruyère in Neufchâtel–Lebourgneuf, Anne Corriveau in Pointe-de-Sainte-Foy, Véronique Dallaire in Les Saules–Les-Méandres and Alicia Despins in Vanier-Duberger.

Despins, a St. Patrick’s High School graduate, told the QCT “it’ll surely be a few weeks” before the party announces new candidates for the open seats on council. She said the party recently held its general assembly and “we voted on the overarching political orientations.”

The party now called Québec d’abord elected 10 councillors in the 2021 election, with Marchand’s QFF winning seven seats and Québec 21 four.

Limoilou Coun. Jackie Smith ran unsuccessfully for mayor as leader of Transition Québec, but won her council seat. She is running again for mayor. The only other declared mayoral candidate as of this writing is Stéphane Lachance of the newly created Parti Respect Citoyens.

Hamad to announce for mayor, Marchand loses councillors Read More »

Possible mayoral candidate Hamad slams cost of tramway

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Possible mayoral candidate Hamad slams cost of tramway

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

He’s not yet officially in the race for mayor of Quebec City, but former Quebec Liberal cabinet minister Sam Hamad appears to be staking his campaign on killing the tramway project.

Hamad’s concerns about the cost and nature of the mega-project are well known. In August, as reports surfaced of his interest in a bid for mayor, Hamad told the QCT, “There is a lot of missing data, so I can’t judge it. How much is it going to cost citizens? Nobody knows that.”

Now, in a Radio-Canada report, Hamad has declared himself ready to fight for an alternative. He said, “We have completely lost control of this project. I will propose a vision of mobility that respects the ability of Quebec citizens to pay.”

As of last week, Hamad has yet to set a date for the anticipated launch of his campaign.

His stance against the tramway, however, may have cost him a potential candidate. Isabelle Roy, the councillor for Québec d’abord in the Robert-Giffard district, had been booted from the party caucus by leader Claude Villeneuve for having had discussions with Hamad about possibly running for a party he would form.

Roy, who now sits as an independent, had told the QCT she is keeping her options open regarding the next election, and not ruling out running on a Hamad ticket.

In the wake of Hamad taking a public stand against the tramway, though, Roy may avoid hopping on board his possible campaign. In a message to the QCT, Roy said, “Quebec [City] needs a structuring transport network. It needs to be done! For four years, we’ve been going around in circles, and the project isn’t moving forward. We need to get a project off the ground!”

A “structuring transport network” is assumed to mean a system of light rail cars running on tracks.

Another former Québec d’abord councillor, now sit- ting as an independent, is taking more of a wait-and-see stance regarding Hamad and the tramway. Louis Martin, who represents the Cap-Rouge–Laurentien district, told the QCT in a message, “I haven’t seen any official statements from Mr. Hamad on the tramway, so I can’t comment on that.” Martin is a first-term councillor, having won the seat vacated by Marie-Josée Savard, former mayor Régis Labeaume’s hand- picked successor for mayor leading the party he created. Savard, who chose not to have a running mate in her district, lost the 2021 mayoral race by a slim margin to current mayor Bruno Marchand, head of Québec Forte et Fière.

Martin left Québec d’abord last week following what he told the media were “decisions and directions taken by Québec d’abord in recent months, with which I was less comfortable. Preparations for the election campaign are progressing. I found it more elegant to withdraw before all the decisions, platforms and directions were made.”

With the departure of Martin and Roy, Québec d’abord is left with five councillors, including leader and mayoral candidate Claude Villeneuve. In the 2021 election, Savard’s team won 10 of the 21 council seats. Since then, three councillors defected to the governing QFF caucus.

Hamad approached Roy and Martin directly about running for his party should he decide to run for mayor. In a telephone interview with the QCT, Roy said she met with Hamad for a cof- fee at his invitation. She said, although she does not know how, Hamad had heard she was having misgivings about Québec d’abord.

“I was drifting apart” from the party, she said. “I was considering many things. I love my colleagues and I respect them. It has nothing to do with them.”

Roy said, “I’m very, very comfortable being an independent right now.”

Of Québec d’abord’s four remaining councillors, only Alicia Despins (Vanier-Duberger) has officially declared she is run- ning again for the party. As of this writing, Anne Corriveau, Véronique Dallaire and Patricia Boudreault-Bruyère had not stated their intention to seek another term.

Possible mayoral candidate Hamad slams cost of tramway Read More »

Sam Hamad recruiting candidates for City Hall campaign

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , , ,

Sam Hamad recruiting candidates for City Hall campaign

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

An effort to “poach” a candidate from another party is providing more proof former Liberal cabinet minister Sam Hamad is preparing to launch a campaign for the municipal election in November.

Last week, Québec D’abord, the official opposition at City Hall, announced via news release the expulsion of Isa- belle Roy, one of the party’s seven councillors, when it was learned Roy “was in discus- sions with Sam Hamad to run as a municipal councillor on his team.”

Leader and mayoral candidate Claude Villeneuve said in the release, “This situation is causing a breakdown in the bond of trust between Ms. Roy and Québec D’abord. As a re- sult, I have made the decision, with the support of our caucus, to exclude Ms. Roy from our team.”

According to a source familiar with the situation the QCT contacted, Villeneuve became aware of Hamad’s overtures to Roy when a journalist who had learned of the “discussions” called him to get his reaction. Villeneuve then called Roy to confirm her conversation with Hamad.

Roy was on vacation with her family during March Break last week; she told the QCT in a message that she was not ready to comment on the situation. She has represented the Robert-Giffard district since her election in 2021 under the banner of Marie-Josée Savard, the designated successor of longtime mayor Régis Labeaume, who narrowly lost that year’s mayoral race.

Before running for council, Roy had a long career in event organization, including the 400th anniversary celebrations of Quebec City in 2008.

Quebec’s director of elections, meanwhile, has con- firmed it has received a request to reserve the name of a new party, called Leadership Québec, in the name of temporary leader André Simard.

Simard confirmed to Radio- Canada the request had been submitted with the list of at least 100 prospective party members, the names of two leaders and an official representative.

Simard, who ran Hamad’s provincial election campaigns, said, “I won’t hide from you that we would like Sam to launch in the coming weeks, so we are preparing the ground.”

The party name – which could be adapted to include Hamad’s name – has not yet been posted on the Elections Québec website.

In a related development, the Journal de Québec reported last week that two internet domain names had been reserved: samhamad.ca and equipesamhamad.ca. When accessed, both sites are said to be “under construction.”

Reached at his office for comment, Hamad told the QCT he’d “call back later.”

Hamad, 67, was the Liberal MNA for the Quebec City riding of Louis-Hébert from 2003 to 2017. Hamad was a minister in several portfolios in the governments of Jean Charest and Philippe Couillard, including minister of transport and minister responsible for the Quebec capital region. He resigned from cabinet and left politics in April 2017.

Mayor Bruno Marchand said in media reports he was “very eager” for Hamad to jump in the race. He told the Journal de Québec, “It’s about time. It’s been a long time. It’s the longest striptease in history. I can’t wait. He’s been telling everyone for months that he’s going to do it.”

Marchand said a Hamad administration would be “a step backward.”

Sam Hamad recruiting candidates for City Hall campaign Read More »

TRAM TRACKER: Anti-tram mayor would be ‘catastrophe’: Duclos

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TRAM TRACKER

Anti-tram mayor would be ‘catastrophe’: Duclos

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

With the next municipal election still a year away, Jean-Yves Duclos, the MP for the downtown riding of Québec and minister of public services and procurement, is warning that an anti-tramway mayor for Quebec City would be a “catastrophe.”

Speaking with reporters at an event on Nov. 1 in Quebec City, Duclos said, “It would be a disaster for Quebec City to deprive itself of money from the Canadian government.”

Duclos was responding to questions about a recent Le Soleil poll that shows support for Mayor Bruno Marchand and the tramway project slumping. The survey found 40 per cent of the sample of 514 online respondents supported the tramway, a drop of five points since a similar poll in June.

Marchand’s approval rating similarly has dropped to 38 per cent, a decline of seven points.

Duclos, who is also the federal Liberals’ Quebec lieutenant, said, “We’ll see what people want to decide, but I think it would be a disaster for Quebec City to miss its chance. We’re already behind all the other comparable cities in Canada. We have the chance to catch up.”

The federal government has already committed $1.3 billion to the initial tramway project and has promised to chip in more with the added costs of the project as proposed in June by the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec Infra.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said last week on social media if he becomes prime minister he would not invest in the tramway project but rather the “third link” across the St. Lawrence River the Quebec government is proposing.

Duclos said Poilievre “is misleading the people of Quebec City by making them believe that he could use the tramway money to invest in a third link.”

Marchand and his Québec Forte et Fière party took over the tramway project from the administration of Régis Labeaume when he won the 2021 election. Nineteen of the city’s 21 councillors are from parties that support the tramway, with the two-person Équipe priorité Québec caucus the only outliers. Former Quebec Liberal minister Sam Hamad, who is considering a mayoral bid, has said there are too many questions about the tramway for him to support it.

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