New Montreal mayor to be elected Nov. 16

Montreal will have a new mayor on Nov. 16 following the city council's secret ballot vote.

Union Montréal, the party of former Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay, met Wednesday morning to discuss the process for electing the city’s interim mayor.

Since Tremblay left his position less than a year before the start of next year's byelection, council must vote to find an interim mayor until the public votes in November 2013.

Tremblay resigned as the city’s mayor on Monday following allegations that he turned a blind eye to corruption within his party.

A news release from the city says candidacies will be introduced between Nov. 13 and 15. The list of candidates will be made public after 4:30 p.m. on Nov. 15.

If only one person introduces their name for the candidacy, they will be acclaimed mayor.

The news release states that, if more than one person enters their name for the role, each candidate will have 20 minutes to answer questions from the public.

Union Montreal, the municipality’s majority party, plans to unify behind one candidate and present that person to city council, said acting mayor Jane Cowell-Poitras.

"Nobody has announced who's running. There's a lot of speculation in the media, but your guess is as good as mine," she said.

City councillor Marvin Rotrand said that so far the caucus has only discussed the mechanics of the process for selecting an interim mayor and that naming potential candidates would be premature.

According to Rotrand, the city is functioning as it should following the mayor's resignation.

"Everybody’s spirits are very good and the caucus is united," he said.