Ensemble Montréal’s Doug Hurley voted in as mayor of Île-Bizard–Sainte-Geneviève in by-election

Ensemble Montréal’s Doug Hurley was voted in as the new mayor of Montreal’s Île-Bizard-Sainte-Geneviève on Sunday night.

He was elected with a majority by a large margin – 79 per cent of the vote. His only opponent Ghassan Baroudi, of Valérie Plante’s Projet Montréal team, captured 21 per cent of votes.

Hurley is a resident of Île-Bizard-Sainte-Geneviève for the last 37 years. He worked for the Montreal police (SPVM) for more than 30 years, first as a police officer then as an intervention officer, as well as commander at the criminal investigation division. He is also an instructor in the police technology program at John Abbott College.

“I love the word Ensemble Montréal, which basically translates to togetherness, and that’s what we’re showing in our collectivity that we have,” Hurley said at a press conference at city hall Monday. “The reason we got four votes out of five is because the population backed our ideas of being more community involved.”

Hurley says his top priority for residents is how the construction of the new Île-aux-Tourtes bridge is affecting them.

“An additional year of discomfort, handling the traffic problems, we got to live with the pain,” he said.

“We needed the bridge, it’s been for a long time. We’re going from three lanes to four lanes. Because in the past 37 years, three times that bridge has been blocked, I’m going to have to stay on the on the island or stay off, where it was blocked from more from 12 to 36 hours.”

Hurley says more control is needed to ease traffic.

“We need more security to help traffic control because I live on the main street. Before I can even get out of my driveway, I have to wait about 10 minutes just to get inside the line, to go over the bridge,” he said. “All citizens in Île-Bizard are living this inconvenience, but they’re putting up with it and so we’re going to do our best to try and put into place different things that are going to help alleviate some of the pain that we’re going through.”

Hurley says he is proud of the campaign he led alongside his colleagues from Ensemble Montréal. Their local platform contains around twenty commitments focused on the security and resilience of the community, prioritizing the well-being of families, preserving the ecosystem, improving mobility, offering quality services and the pursuit of responsible governance.

“I look forward to getting to work to improve the quality of life of the community, to bring it together and give it the voice it deserves at Montreal City Hall,” Hurley said in a press release.

The previous mayor, Stéphane Côté of Ensemble Montréal, resigned last summer for health reasons.

“I am very excited about Doug joining our caucus. He is a man close to his community, who will work in the interest of residents, merchants and farmers. The result is proof that citizens are satisfied with the trust they have placed in us. Our party is in a good position to put an end to the current administration’s heyday in the central city,” said the leader of Ensemble Montréal, Aref Salem.

Projet Montréal congratulated Hurley for the victory in a press release.

“I want to personally congratulate Doug Hurley on his victory,” said Montreal mayor, Valérie Plante. “We will continue to work hard for the citizens of Île-Bizard – Ste-Geneviève. Our administration leaves no one behind and we look forward to working with the new mayor to effectively implement current projects.”

Hurley will be sworn in on December 22. His mandate will last until the next municipal elections, scheduled for November 2025.