The ''Parti Montréal 2000'' (English: Montreal 2000 Party) was a municipal political party in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada. It fielded a mayoral candidate and candidates for

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

in the

1998 Montreal municipal election The city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it th ...

. The party's founder, leader, and mayoral candidate was

Michel Bédard Michel may refer to: * Michel (name), a given name or surname of French origin (and list of people with the name) * Míchel (nickname), a nickname (a list of people with the nickname, mainly Spanish footballers) * Míchel (footballer, born 1963), S ...

History

Montreal 2000 was founded in 1998 as a successor party to the ''

Parti éléphant blanc de Montréal The Parti éléphant blanc de Montréal (PÉBM) (English: White Elephant Party of Montreal) was a fringe political party in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, that existed for most of the period from 1989 to 2009. Origins The PÉBM was created by Michel Bé ...

'' (English: White Elephant Party), a novelty party that Bédard had established in 1989. The White Elephant Party was similar in some respects to the Rhinoceros Party of Canada, though it often used its humorous campaigns to draw attention to serious issues. The ''

Montreal Gazette The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...

'' newspaper described Montreal 2000 as "a joke party of the past reincarnated as a semi-serious fringe group." In launching his campaign, Bédard described Montreal 2000 as "the only party whose sole commitment is to the entire Montreal population and not to private interests." He proposed free public transportation for welfare recipients and the unemployed, and promised to create a new arts centre in place of a run-down factory at the corner of Rene Levesque Blvd. and de Lorimier Ave. Later in the campaign, he promised an emergency municipal fund to attack poverty and said he would petition the provincial government to end the practice of reimbursing half the election expenses of candidates who receive twenty per cent support or higher from the electorate. Bédard polled at 2.2% and 3.6% in two September 1998 mayoral polls. On election day, he finished a distant fifth with 0.96% support. The party ran twenty candidates for city council. One candidate, Sofoklis Rasoulis, was a former council member, and Bédard acknowledged that Rasoulis represented the party's best hope of winning a seat on council and hence receiving a municipally funded research budget.Linda Gyulai, "Ex-Elephant gets serious: 3-time mayoral candidate Bedard has plan to attack poverty in city," ''Montreal Gazette'', 21 October 1998, A6. Ultimately, none of the party's candidates was elected. Bédard changed Montreal 2000's name back to the White Elephant Party to contest the 2001 municipal election.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parti Montreal 2000 Political parties established in 1998 Municipal political parties in Montreal