Out of Office with Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada

--°C|lundi 8 juin 2026|

Abonnez-vous aujourd'hui pour obtenir 3 articles gratuits par mois.50 % de réduction sur vos 5 premières courses avec Lyft

EN/FR

Soraya Martinez Ferrada's first months as mayor have fallen under the microscope and scalpel, and why wouldn’t they? At the time of her coming into office, the veneer of Valerie Plante’s previous administration had long since fallen away and the incumbent is facing a clear and challenging demand: Can you fix what’s broken in this city?

Enter the ensuing media scrums, critiques, and editorials, covering everything from public‑transit labour disputes, property‑tax hikes, and budget choices while making promises made on homelessness, housing, and mobility that are actively being put to the test. Then there are the debates on bike lanes, cars, and all of the potholes between polarized Montrealers since she took office. (And this, I know, is glossing over all manner of other priorities.)

Free account required

Pour ceux qui ont Montréal à cœur

Créez un compte gratuit pour lire cet article et accéder à 3 articles par mois, ainsi qu'à notre Bulletin hebdomadaire.

Indépendant. Local. Soutenu par ses lecteurs.

Déjà membre? Se connecter

Of course a citizen should expect responsibility, results, and decorum from the new mayor of their city. At the same time, a mayor’s far from an automaton. Would it be possible to know the person behind the title, beyond the platform and first-100-days scorecard? What does Montreal look like through her eyes?

When her team responded to my request for an interview along these lines, the coming talk was ripe with possibilities. By the time we were sitting down together, she'd been in office about 140 days, and the spectre of every outlet in town having covered her platform, priorities, and pressures cast a long shadow.

Still, I wanted to try and understand her outside of all these things. What I got was forty minutes at a Latin American grocery store with a mayor who briefly stepped outside the job to hang out.

Have a seat