Former broadcaster Leslie Roberts to run with Ensemble Montréal

Former journalist and broadcaster Leslie Roberts will run in the Peter McGill district, in the heart of downtown, at the next municipal election.

The seat is held by independent councillor Serge Sasseville, who broke ranks with Projet Montreal.

Ensemble Montréal leader Soraya Martinez Ferrada made the announcement with Roberts at a news conference Tuesday.

Roberts is a former CJAD 800 radio host who also had a lengthy TV career at Global and CTV.

He’s now trying his hands at politics.

“When I had the talk show on CJAD, I listened to Montrealers every day. They complained daily. So in many ways, those years listening to Montrealers, talking to the politicians, has prepared me for the natural next step,” he says.

He adds that his focus will be specific to the downtown area where he now lives.

“I see every day the problems that this district has. We’re talking about security. We need to restore that sense of security here to many construction site,” Roberts says. “We’ve all heard about that, of course, garbage”

Roberts also says he’s concerned about endless construction on Ste-Catherine street.

“This street behind us would be buzzing. That’s not the case anymore. We’ve got to work hard to return downtown Montreal, to all its glory.”

Roberts has also been a vocal critic of ongoing pro-Palestine demonstrations in the city, especially those that resulted in confrontations.

“What I do have is I respect the letter of the law here at home when that law is crossed. I would talk specifically about protests that blocked traffic, protests that intimidate other Montrealers. But the law must be enforced,” he says.

Municipal affairs analyst Justine McIntyre, herself a former city councillor, says Roberts could be tapping into a sympathetic voting bloc.

“We’ve seen him writing issues about relating to pro-Palestinian protests and also about street prayer, prayer that’s happening downtown. He’s in a district that has a two English language universities with Palestinian pro-Palestinian protest groups that are very present on their campus,” explains McIntyre

“It’s been a very divisive issue for the city of Montreal that one that the current administration has not managed very effectively. And that’s created a tremendous amount of frustration for residents, for university students and for protesters themselves,” he adds.

McIntyre says Ensemble Montréal tends to be more right-wing than Projet Montréal.

“They are a more right leaning party, that was true under Denis Coderre. It’s still true under Soraya Martinez Ferrada,” says McIntyre.

Ensemble Montréal is attracting high-profile candidates.

Last week, theater director and actress Lorraine Pintal announced she was joining Ensemble Montréal in the Vieux-Rosemont district, as did the former director of Centraide Claude Pinard.

City Hall insiders say it’s evidence the former federal minister is gaining ground in a race where she and her Projet Montréal opponent Luc Rabouin are struggling to gain name recognition.

“We only need to have confidence people that will, you know, manage the city better,” Ferrada told CTV News

But without major polling so far in the campaign, it’s too early to say who will be in power at city hall in less than two months.