Interpretation of electoral results: merchant is “desperate”, according to Hamad

By affirming that the results of the federal election constitute A new green light For the tram megaprojet, the mayor of Quebec, Bruno Marchand, shows how “desperate” he is, according to Sam Hamad.

This is what the former liberal minister and candidate for the town hall of Quebec said Thursday morning during a long interview with The newspaper. The latter, who formalized his candidacy on April 6, reacted for the first time to the result of the Monday election which saw the Liberal Party of Canada be elected as a minority government in Ottawa.

“Whenever there is a movement somewhere, a reshuffle, an election, an report, an intervention … All that he says [M. Marchand] is he concluded: “Ah, this is good news for the tram” […] For what? Because the merchant administration is a desperate administration that is looking for good news, he dropped. We try to interpret the decision of people as we want. ”

However, according to Mr. Hamad, the real deadline for the tramway is that of 2027 when the Quebec government must give it – or not – the ultimate green light. Until then, there will be a municipal election in November then a provincial election in October 2026, he recalled.

According to his analysis, the federal election on Monday was not “a referendum on the tram” and the voters voted rather taking into account other issues such as the cost of living or relations with the United States of Donald Trump.

Electoral lessons

On the national level, Mr. Hamad said that the results of Monday are “bad news”, since “Canada is divided in half and that weaken us”. He said he appealed to “wisdom” of all federal parties to be “in solidarity with the negotiation with Trump”.

For the results specific to the National Capital Region, the pretender to the town hall first noted the disappearance of the Quebec Bloc and the fact that the Liberals and the Conservatives have generally consolidated their respective positions. If it were to be brought to the head of Quebec, Mr. Hamad promised to work with all elected officials.

Other attacks

Defending himself from making personal attacks and swearing to have “much respect” towards Bruno Marchand, Sam Hamad has nevertheless drawn up a dark record of the last four years in the municipal.

He first returned to the bet on the tram pause, at the end of 2023, by the Legault government. “It is a shame for the city,” he scandalized. I would never accept that they take this dossier to me. I would never go to the point that they take me off the file. ”

Referring to last week’s news, Mr. Hamad noted that Bruno Marchand came out empty -handed from his recent meeting with the Ministers Geneviève Guilbault and Jonatan Julien to discuss issues related to road congestion. “As usual, he comes out empty-handed,” he deplored.

Recalling that Bruno Marchand learned the abandonment of the reserved track project, at the end of March, in The newspaperMr. Hamad again regretted “weak, weak, weak leadership of the mayor.

What transport project?

Sam Hamad promised to present a “beautiful” project of public transportation to voters. It will be “a project that includes the suburbs, which will be done quickly and that we will be able to manage, realize and operate,” he summed up. Will the one who opposes the current version of the tram, will it offer a SRB (Bus fast service)? The town hall candidate refused to clearly answer this question. On the other hand, he assured that it will be based on the conclusions of the June 2024 report of the Caisse de Dépôt (CDPQI) on mobility, even if this document concludes that the tram is the most suitable for Quebec. “I base myself on the data and the expertise of the fund to give a mobility project in Quebec […] Don’t read it quick. There are several conclusions in this report, “he added, mysterious.

Many CVs on the table

Since the formalization of his candidacy, Mr. Hamad says he has received a lot of CVs of people interested in presenting himself with his new party – Leadership Québec – in the 21 districts of the city. “I am impressed by the number of requests received. We have lots of CV. The interest is there and it is surprising, “he said. Sam Hamad also called the Quebec Priority Team Advisor as a “good world”, Stevens Mélançon, as well as the two former municipal elected representatives of Quebec first (Isabelle Roy and Louis Martin). That said, he did not want to confirm whether these three municipal councilors will be part of his team of candidates for the November 2 election.

Hamad denies … then retracts

In interview Thursday with The newspaperSam Hamad denied that he sat in Trudel Innovation CA in June 2023, when he publicly praised the Trudel brothers who are the head of an important real estate group in Quebec. Verification made, Mr. Hamad did indeed sit on this CA between 1^is January 2023 and February 25, 2025, as reported by The newspaperthree weeks ago. Faced with Thursday afternoon on this subject, Mr. Hamad admitted that the information of Journal are correct.