For the first time in a century, an anglophone has won the keys to the mayor's office in Montreal - a stunning victory inside a city hall that has been shaken by scandal.
Michael Applebaum won a vote Friday at city council, 31-29, to become the city's first non-francophone mayor since just before the First World War. He will serve as interim mayor of sa国际传媒's second-largest city for a year, with a promise not to run in the next municipal election in November 2013. Anglophones in Quebec rarely hold such prominent political roles.
In the municipality of Montreal itself, only 13 per cent of people claim English as their mother tongue; a far greater number of Montrealers speak the language in their everyday lives, however, given that 47 per cent of residents are not original French-speakers.
The flurry of developments leading to his win began last week with the resignation of Gerald Tremblay, the former mayor whose administration was tarnished in a corruption scandal.
Applebaum was an obvious contender, given that he was the No. 2 politician in the city after the mayor. After he reinvented himself as a whistleblower, he reached out to other parties, promising to ditch the partisan politics that have ruled city hall for years and to bring together council members from all banners.
