May 19, 2024

The Queens County Citizen

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Montreal City Hall: “I was deceived by Balarama Holness,” says Mark-Antoine Deszardins

Montreal City Hall: "I was deceived by Balarama Holness," says Mark-Antoine Deszardins

The dust of the election had now settled, and Mark-Antoine Deszardins ignored his words. He believes that Balarama Holiness used him to follow their alliance for the mayor of Montreal, and then betrayed him.

Also read: Valerie Plante defeated Denis Coderre and was re-elected mayor of Montreal

Also read: Balarama has not made tremendous progress for holiness

“We are in front of the manipulator, the man without words and the man who betrayed us. We did not see it coming and we are fed up with it, ”Mark-Antoine Deszardins denied in a lengthy telephone interview on Tuesday.

He constantly on his phone painted a complimenting portrait of an arrogant leader doing as he pleases. Looking back, mr. Deszardins believes his former ally started the mayoral race with the sole aim of gaining a certain notoriety.

“We saw his real face. The masks fell off and we saw who he really is. He doesn’t tell the truth, he plays with words and makes up stories. I think it’s very embarrassing for democracy,” he stressed.

As a reminder, on September 30, the two leaders announced an alliance between the Movement Montreal and the Rallyment Por Montreal, their part. This is despite the fact that they have a different focus on certain issues, especially the status of the language in Montreal.

According to the terms they agreed upon, Mr. Holness should not touch the charter of Montreal, which stipulates that the language of the city is French. Mr. Holness became the mayoral candidate for the coalition, while Mr. Deszardins co-chaired and ran for the Outreach borough.

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The alliance was formed when both parties were struggling to gain visibility and had gathered only low voting intentions in the election. They wanted to provide a third reliable option against Valerie Plante and Denise Coderrere, who caught everyone’s attention.

However, at a press conference on October 12, Mr Holness reiterated his intention to hold a referendum on the metropolitan language. Mr. According to Desjardins, the two agreed the day before on a joint statement, although Mr. Holness would have rewritten that statement without consulting him during the evening.

With respect to his candidates who are still competing, Mr. Deszardins is waiting in front of the party to leave. “[Ils] Are in a very embarrassing situation. I can not slam the door without covering their campaign; I had to take responsibility, ”he explained.

He believes that after the deadline to register for the election in Montreal, Mr Holiness took advantage of his grip on the control of candidates to reject his words.

“Self boss,” Mr. Holness said

Balarama contacted Holiness by telephone, initially for a while. “I want the best to happen in his adventures, and to achieve the utmost success,” he said soberly at first.

He later called back to detail his idea of ​​a referendum intended to discuss bilingual status for Montreal.

“This is a legitimate way to ask if Montreal can be the author of its destiny,” Mr Holness said succinctly, believing the process was a legitimate democratic tool. However, visceral reactions to his proposal, in his opinion, show that it should not be done.

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“We have shown that people do not want a referendum. I believe we have publicly shown that this idea of ​​holding a referendum for whatever reason should be eliminated, ”he explained.

In this second telephone interview, Mr. Mr. who believes he has deceived Holiness. Deszardins was also asked to respond to comments made.

“Any final decision in the Montreal Montreal will rest solely with the party leader, as long as it is me, Balarama Holiness, period. Any decision at the political level depends on me, ”he said.

He said Mr. Desjardins was the only candidate among others, as well as he had no decision-making power in the party. “He can come forward with what he wants, but it’s my final decision,” Mr. Holness said.

Other contradictions

It was not only Mark-Antoine Deszardins who knocked on the Montreal door of the movement after the merger of the two parties. In all, eight candidates decided to embark on the adventure.

On October 30, many of them told the author of his lines about the problems they were having with Mr. Holiness.

Their denunciations, highlighted by the CBC in Montreal in Action, a non-profit organization founded by Balarama Holiness, add to the administrative problems.

Even to watch

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