Soraya Martinez Ferrada Commits to Empowering Boroughs with Équipe Anjou, Équipe LaSalle, and Ensemble Montréal Candidates

Montreal mayoral candidate and leader of Ensemble Montréal, Soraya Martinez Ferrada, held a transpartisan press conference Sunday morning in Saint-Laurent with Ensemble Montréal’s borough mayoral candidates, as well as Équipe LaSalle and Équipe Anjou.

Soraya Martinez Ferrada, together with Ensemble Montréal’s 17 borough mayoral candidates, Anjou Mayor Luis Miranda, and LaSalle Mayor Nancy Blanchet, committed to reforming borough funding within the first 100 days of a new administration, in collaboration with a newly created Table of Mayors.

This reform aims to provide better local services to residents, such as faster snow removal and more road repairs, made possible by greater borough autonomy and by allocating them the necessary financial resources.

Borough mayoral candidates denounced the negative effects of power centralization under Projet Montréal. Over the past eight years, property taxes have increased by 38%, benefiting primarily the central city at the expense of boroughs, even though boroughs are responsible for providing direct services such as cleanliness, street and park maintenance, and upkeep of sports and cultural facilities.

Between 2017 and 2025, borough transfers have risen by only 16%, while inflation climbed 29% over the same period. This deficit, created by Projet Montréal and the Plante-Rabouin administration, has significantly undermined essential services for residents.

Since taking office, the Plante-Rabouin administration has hired nearly 3,000 additional employees for the central city, mainly adding managers and professionals, far removed from front-line local services.

Commitments

• Begin implementing a borough funding reform within the first 100 days of the mandate, in collaboration with the Table of Mayors.
• Strengthen borough autonomy and front-line services, including increasing building inspectors, accelerating snow removal, and repairing more streets.

Quotes

“My priority is to provide the best possible service to residents. We saw the effects of the Plante-Rabouin administration’s power centralization last winter during snow removal operations — the snow almost melted before they got around to collecting it. I’m committing today to giving boroughs the means to act quickly and efficiently for their citizens.”
— Soraya Martinez Ferrada, candidate for mayor of Montreal and leader of Ensemble Montréal

“Citizens deserve effective local services, not an administration that centralizes and complicates the process. Ensemble Montréal represents real change to tangibly improve the daily lives of Montrealers.”
— Caroline Braun, Ensemble Montréal candidate for mayor of Outremont

“Boroughs know better than anyone what their residents need. It’s time to give them the resources to deliver. Centralization means decisions made for all boroughs without considering each neighbourhood’s specific reality.”
— Nancy Blanchet, Mayor of LaSalle

“In Anjou, as in the rest of Montreal, residents want clean streets, quick snow removal, and well-maintained sports and cultural facilities. To achieve this, we need budgets that reflect the reality on the ground.”
— Luis Miranda, Mayor of Anjou, Équipe Anjou