Luc Rabouin elected new leader of Projet Montréal
Posted March 15, 2025 8:25 pm.
Last Updated March 15, 2025 11:32 pm.
City councillor Luc Rabouin has been chosen to succeed Valérie Plante as the leader of Projet Montréal, setting up a showdown with Soraya Martinez Ferrada in the race to become the city’s next mayor.
Rabouin, the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough mayor, was elected by party members Saturday in the fourth round of voting. He received 59.2 per cent of support.
“This victory means so much to me,” Rabouin told supporters moments after his win was announced.
“We are the party of all diversities. I’m committed to any effort necessary to be the party that represents all of Montreal’s communities, and that that’s reflected in all our actions — at the party and municipal level.”
He defeated city councillors Ericka Alneus, Gracia Kasoki Katahwa, Laurence Lavigne Lalonde and party president Guedwig Bernier after a six-week leadership race that Rabouin called convivial and respectful. “We’re all on the same team,” said Rabouin, who later invited his four leadership opponents up on stage with him.
The party says there was a “historic” 82 per cent participation rate among its more than 6,000 members.
Plante, the Projet Montréal leader since 2016, announced last fall she would not be seeking a third term after securing victories in 2017 and 2021. Plante will stay on as mayor until the Nov. 2 municipal election.
“I am passing the torch, but with great pride because we are leaving a party in order … whether in terms of finances, efforts or renewal among members,” Plante said during her own speech a few minutes before the leadership results were announced.
Plante embraced Rabouin after his victory speech, which was entirely in French.
“Valérie, I want to thank you for everything you did for Projet Montréal,” Rabouin said. “And for Montreal. You turned our party into a real political party, with dedicated activists from all walks of life. Also, a left-leaning party capable of governing Quebec’s metropolis.
“There’s a lot left to do, but you can be so proud of what you accomplished.”
As president of the executive committee and a prominent figure within party ranks, Rabouin was a popular choice to succeed Plante as leader. Sharing a similar vision as Plante, he ran on fixing Montreal’s housing crisis by proposing to increase off-market housing; tackling homelessness; developing green spaces and infrastructure; and improving the city’s network of reserved bus lanes.
“At Projet Montréal, we want to build a city where the right to housing is a reality, where we face the climate challenge with determination, where the economy is at the service of the community — and not the other way around — and where culture is accessible to each and everyone,” he said.
At a party debate last month – where housing and homelessness were major discussion points – Rabouin proposed created a $100-million guarantee fund to stimulate real-estate projects. He also showed support for modular housing and tax breaks for new real-estate developments.
In Saturday’s victory speech, the new Projet Montréal leader acknowledged the city is faced with a “concerning situation” of “growing economic uncertainty.” He said the municipality would not rely on other levels of government to achieve Montreal’s goals, but stressed more collaboration with the Quebec government was necessary.
“Thousands of people are at risk of losing their jobs, and it’s stressful for people — including myself. The social and humanitarian crisis we’re facing is upsetting people and making them angry — it’s the same for me. It’s in this context that we need a team with experience. And that’s what we have to offer to face this situation.”
Saturday’s vote means Montrealers will decide between Rabouin and newly appointed Ensemble Montréal leader Martinez Ferrada in November. The former federal cabinet minister, who was first elected to the federal riding of Hochelaga in 2019, ran unopposed for the leadership of the official opposition party.
“Let’s be clear: it won’t be easy winning the next election,” said Rabouin, who took a shot at Ensemble Montréal for electing a candidate who ran unopposed.
“I’ve still not heard any proposals yet. I just know what she’s against but I don’t know her vision. I don’t know where she wants to go. I don’t know why she’s running and we’ll see in the next months.”
Martinez Ferrada congratulated Rabouin on X. “I look forward to debating our respective visions for the city,” she wrote. “Montrealers can count on @EnsembleMtl to provide an efficient, attentive, and collaborative administration.”
Rabouin was much less cordial in his victory speech; he called Ensemble Montréal a party with no vision for the future, which fights for the status quo and moves backwards instead of forwards.
“With right-wing parties gaining ground around the world, we can’t allow ourselves to move backwards on social rights,” Rabouin said to lengthy applause. “We won’t move backwards on social rights and we won’t move backwards on the environment, either. The battle won’t be easy, but we’ll win.”
Relatively new on the political scene, Rabouin has been successful since entering municipal politics in 2019. He earned a landslide victory that year – with 67 per cent of the vote – in a byelection to become borough mayor of Plateau-Mont-Royal. He was re-elected two years later with 75 per cent support.
In November 2023, Rabouin became chair of the executive committee after the Office de consultation publique spending scandal led to the resignation of Dominique Ollivier. Rabouin’s responsibilities included economic and commercial development.
Before his career in politics, he held various management positions with Montréal Urban Ecology Centre, PME Montréal, Desjardins and Communauto France.
