Benoit Dorais will not seek fifth term as mayor of Sud-Ouest borough

After 16 years in municipal politics, the mayor of the Sud-Ouest borough, Benoit Dorais says he will not seek a fifth term in November.

“It’s time for me to pass the torch to someone else,” he said at a press conference on Thursday.

He was elected mayor in 2009 and served under several political banners before joining Projet Montréal in 2017 when Valérie Plante was elected mayor of Montreal.

Dorais went on to serve as president of the executive committee and the city’s chief financial officer. During his latest and final mandate, he became responsible for housing on the executive committee.

In a Facebook post Wednesday, Dorais said one of his major accomplishments of his tenure is greening the borough, as well as ensuring 10,000 community housing units are established there by the end of 2025.

“I really leave with a sense of duty accomplished,” he said.

Dorais pegs himself as a “local guy.”

“I grew up in the area, my whole family for generations has lived in the area. And for me, I’ve always wanted to make sure that I take care of my people – make sure that the Sud-Ouest is more resilient, that it’s always as united, greener, with several achievements, I think, to my credit,” he said.

At age 50, Dorais says it’s time to leave politics — without saying what exactly he’ll do next.

“I have decided to move on, to take on other challenges to serve my people in a different way,” he said. “And today, we are going to make sure that we pass the torch. And I am really extremely confident for the future of the people of the Sud-Ouest.”

Dorais was on hand for Projet Montréal’s announcement of their candidate for the borough.

Véronique Fournier is the party’s mayoral candidate for the Sud-Ouest. She is former city councillor for the Sud-Ouest from 2009 to 2013 and she has experience in urban ecology.