Steven Guilbeault will not be a candidate for mayor of Montreal

Photo: Tijana Martin The Canadian Press The Liberal minister intends to seek another mandate in the next federal election.

Jeanne Corriveau

Published at 18:16

• Montreal

Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault’s name had been mentioned as a potential candidate for mayor of Montreal, but the person concerned said Friday that he had no intention of jumping into the municipal arena and would instead try to get re-elected as the MNA for Laurier-Sainte-Marie in the next federal election.

“I am very proud of my work within the Liberal Party and want to continue to focus on continuing this progress and our government’s efforts to stop and reverse biodiversity loss, continue the fight against climate change and accelerate the fight against plastic pollution,” he said in a statement sent to Devoir, noting that for the first time in the country’s history, GHG emissions had decreased in Canada.

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“I intend to run again in the next federal elections in Laurier-Sainte-Marie and I do not plan to become a candidate for mayor of Montreal.”

On Thursday, longtime Projet Montréal activist Daniel Sanger told Le Devoir that he would welcome Mr. Guilbeault's candidacy for the leadership of Projet Montréal after Valérie Plante announced she would not seek a third term.

The author of the essay Save the city. Projet Montréal and the challenge of transforming a modern metropolis, published in 2021, had also pointed out that about ten years ago, Projet Montréal had tried in vain to convince Steven Guilbeault, who then headed the Équiterre organization, to join the ranks of the municipal party.

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On Friday, the federal minister, who participated with Valérie Plante in a press conference on a student housing project in Montreal, paid tribute to the mayor who, he said, worked closely with him and the federal government on various housing, transportation and climate change projects.

He praised the City of Montreal’s contribution to organizing COP15 in 2022. Given China’s difficulties in hosting the event, he had suggested to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that COP15 be organized in the city. This type of summit requires up to two years of preparation, while Montreal had less than six months to do so, he recalled. “Many people questioned my mental health, but we managed to make this conference what all experts recognize as the best organized and most successful UN conference on biodiversity protection in terms of negotiations.”