Éric Alan Caldwell
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Éric Alan Caldwell is a politician in
Montreal, Quebec Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
, Canada. He has served on the Montreal city council since 2013, representing the Hochelaga division as a member of
Projet Montréal Projet Montréal (officially Projet Montréal - Équipe Luc Rabouin) is a progressive, environmentalist municipal political party in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 2004, it is led by Luc Rabouin and holds a majority of seats on Montre ...
. In November 2017, he was appointed to the
Montreal executive committee The Montreal Executive Committee () is the executive branch of the municipal government of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The committee reports directly to city hall and is responsible for generating documents such as budgets and by-laws, which are then ...
(i.e., the municipal cabinet) by new
mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
Valérie Plante Valérie Plante (; born 14 June 1974) is a Canadian politician serving as the 45th and current mayor of Montreal since 2017. First elected to Montreal City Council in the 2013 election, she served as leader of the Projet Montréal party sin ...
. By virtue of holding his position on city council, Caldwell also serves on the Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough council.


Early life and private career

Caldwell was raised in Sainte-Edwidge-de-Clifton, a small community in
Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
's
Estrie Estrie () is an List of Quebec regions, administrative region of Quebec that comprises the Eastern Townships. ''Estrie'', a French neologism, was coined as a derivative of ''est'', "east". Originally settled by anglophones, today it is about 90 pe ...
region. When he was first inaugurated as a Montreal city councillor in 2013, he was quoted as saying, "I grew up in a village where there was a strong tradition of democracy, so for me this is a very solemn ceremony." He moved to Montreal in 2001 and has degrees in cinematography and economics from the
Université du Québec à Montréal The (UQAM; ), is a French language, French-language public university, public research university based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest constituent element of the system. UQAM was founded on April 9, 1969, by the government o ...
(UQAM).


Political career

Caldwell first sought election to city council in the 2005 municipal election, when he ran for borough mayor of
Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve () is a borough of Montreal, Quebec, Canada located in the southeastern end of the island. History ''See Mercier and Hochelaga-Maisonneuve articles for a more detailed histories of respective areas'' Hochelaga w ...
and placed third against
Vision Montreal Vision Montreal () was a municipal political party in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was founded in 1994 and dissolved in April 2014. Between 2001 and 2013 it formed the official opposition on Montreal City Council. Origins Vision Montreal was e ...
candidate Lyn Thériault Faust. He later ran for the Hochelaga city council seat in the 2009 election and finished second against Vision candidate Laurent Blanchard. Over the next four years, he attended borough council meetings on a regular basis and, as a citizen, proposed a number of policy initiatives.


Montreal city councillor

Caldwell was elected to council on his third attempt, defeating Blanchard (who was by this time serving as Montreal's interim mayor) for the Hochelaga seat in the 2013 election. Project Montréal became the
official opposition Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''t ...
on city council after the election, and Caldwell was chosen in early 2014 as his party's critic for citizen services and
Space for Life Space for Life () is a museum district in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It consists of five natural museums: the Biosphere, Biodome, Planetarium, Botanical Garden and Insectarium. Space for Life was established in 2011 as a successor body to Montr ...
. He was also appointed to Montreal's ''Commission sur le schéma d'aménagement et de développement de Montréal'' (Commission on the Land Use and Development Plan) in the same year. In June 2015, Caldwell was appointed as a Project Montréal representative on the ''Commission sur le développement économique et urbain et l'habitation'' (Commission on Economic and Urban Development and Housing). He initially received this position on an interim basis, filling in for
Peter McQueen Peter McQueen (c. 1780 – 1820) ( Creek, Muscogee) was a chief, prophet, trader and warrior from ''Talisi'' ( Tallassee, among the Upper Towns in present-day Alabama.) He was one of the young men known as Red Sticks, who became a prophet for ...
, who was then seeking election to the
House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...
. Ultimately, however, he served on the committee until the 2017 election. During his first term on council, Caldwell fought for the
Montreal Botanical Gardens The Montreal Botanical Garden (, ) is a large botanical garden in Montreal, Quebec, Canada comprising of thematic gardens and greenhouses. It was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 2008 as it is considered to be one of the most ...
to revert to its previous policy of allowing free access outside of operating hours, promoted self-service
carsharing Carsharing or car sharing (AU, NZ, CA, TH, & US) or car clubs (UK) is a model of car rental where people rent cars for short periods of time, often by the hour. It differs from traditional car rental in that the owners of the cars are often pri ...
in Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, took part in the preparation of the borough's ''éco-quartier'' environmental plan, and sought to protect natural areas in Pierrefonds-Ouest against a proposed housing development scheme. In July 2016, Caldwell and borough mayor
Réal Ménard Réal Ménard (born May 13, 1962) is a Canadian politician, who was a Bloc Québécois member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1993 to 2009. He was the second Canadian member of Parliament to come out as gay. Ménard is a political scient ...
(who were not generally political allies) announced the creation of a new public space in the borough called ''Le patio culturel''. Caldwell was elected to a second term on council in the 2017 municipal election, which was won by Projet Montréal. Following the election, new mayor Valérie Plante appointed Caldwell to her executive committee with responsibility for urban planning, transit, and Montreal's office of public consultation."Gender parity but little diversity in Valérie Plante's executive committee"
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...
, 20 November 2017, accessed 15 December 2017.


Electoral record


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caldwell, Eric Alan Living people Montreal city councillors Politicians from Estrie People from Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Canadian municipal councillors