![\"marie](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/marie-ann-davis_6479_1.jpg\")
<\/a>) and she lost to current mayor Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Parenteau.<\/p>\nLast week, she became Verdun\u2019s most prominent federalist too, although she doesn\u2019t feel comfortable carrying the mantle.<\/p>\n
I can\u2019t even call myself a federalist,\u201d says Davis. \u201cI\u2019m not a sovereignist either, but I\u2019m sympathetic to the cause. Do I want Quebec to separate? No. Do they have the right to organize to do so? Of course. Why do we have to be one or the other? There\u2019s a spectrum. I don\u2019t feel like a federalist, but I\u2019m not a sovereignist.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
When the current provincial election was called, Davis volunteered to manage the election campaign for Rosa Pires, the Verdun candidate for Quebec Solidaire.<\/p>\n
I went with Rosa because of the charter,\u201d said Davis. \u201cShe did a lot of work against the charter and that\u2019s why I wanted to help her win. Her analysis on it was really poignant and her leadership of the \u201cGroupe des souverainistes\u201d against the charter thrilled me.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Pires happily accepted her offer. She knew that Davis was unsure about sovereignty but neither thought it would become a campaign issue.<\/p>\n
For her part, Davis has always been comfortable working closely with people who are for an independent Quebec. \u201cEven the way Quebec Solidaire was presenting sovereignty\u2014I was okay with that,\u201d she said. \u201cThose of us who don\u2019t believe in sovereignty in the separatist parties just figure that if there\u2019s a referendum, we\u2019ll just vote no.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pires\u2019 and Davis\u2019 comfortable working alliance broke when Davis posted a note on Facebook at 5 p.m. last Tuesday night. She accused Verdun mayor Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Parenteau of campaigning with PQ candidate Loraine Pintal. She finished her French language post with: \u201cHey, you anglos of Verdun. What do you think?\u201d<\/p>\n
Then her cell phone died.<\/p>\n
The post went viral on social media.<\/p>\n
Davis didn\u2019t see the firestorm her post created for five hours. By the time she plugged her phone in again, Quebec Solidaire organizers were asking her to remove the post and angry members were sending her hate mail accusing her of being a \u2018federalist saboteur.\u2019<\/p>\n
By then, she too regretted her hasty comment, which she couldn\u2019t prove.<\/p>\n
It was too late. The damage to her reputation was already done and she spent the rest of the week facing criticism and anger on Facebook, in Twitter and on blogs. Davis resigned from the Quebec Solidaire campaign, but she also got scared and refused to leave her home for two days.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Verdun Mayor Jean Francois Parenteau denies Davis\u2019 accusation outright.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a big joke!\u201d he responded by cell phone. \u201cI’ve never campaigned with anybody. Do you think I have time for that?\u201d<\/p>\n
But, I\u2019m always open to discuss Verdun with all candidates. I have seen Lorraine Pintal and Jacques Daoust last Friday at my office.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Despite announcements by election candidates about potential investments in schools (PQ), hospitals (Liberals), social housing (Quebec Solidaire and CAQ) and bridges (all parties), the person who got the most attention in the riding of Verdun last week was Mary Ann Davis. Davis is an Anglophone, a union organizer, a housing activist, a lesbian and a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_wp_convertkit_post_meta":{"form":"-1","landing_page":"0","tag":"0","restrict_content":"0"},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[22],"tags":[219,216,218,220,217,221,128],"class_list":["post-15601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-verdunposts","tag-jean-francois-parenteau","tag-mary-ann-davis","tag-provincial-election","tag-quebec-solidaire","tag-reluctant-federalist","tag-rosa-pires","tag-verdun","post-wrapper","thrv_wrapper"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2buQs-43D","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":857,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/week-one-2012election\/","url_meta":{"origin":15601,"position":0},"title":"Provincial Election 2012, Week One","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"August 8, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Marquette, Marguerite-Bourgeoys and Verdun Ridings Potential voters in the Marguerite-Bourgeoys (LaSalle), Marquette (Dorval and Lachine) and Verdun ridings began seeing campaign posters from four parties before the election was called. In Verdun, the posters all show well-known candidates. Liberal Party posters in Marquette and Verdun show well-known incumbents who were\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Island Report"","block_context":{"text":"Island Report","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/canada\/island-report\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Marquettesmall.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2985,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/jean-francois-parenteau\/","url_meta":{"origin":15601,"position":1},"title":"Verdun Mayor Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Parenteau to Assist Executive Committee","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"November 19, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Denis Coderre named Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Parenteau, recently-elected\u00a0Mayor of Verdun, as an assistant member of Montreal\u2019s Executive Committee. He will concentrate on improving water infrastructure. Congratulations Mr. Parenteau. \u00a0 New Verdun Mayor: Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Parenteau Association: \u00c9quipe Denis Coderre pour Montr\u00e9al, http:\/\/www.equipedeniscoderre.com Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Parenteau will either inspire or scare you with his\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Verdun"","block_context":{"text":"Verdun","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/canada\/verdunposts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Parenteau","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Parenteau-288x300.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":15566,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/verdun_aquatic_centre\/","url_meta":{"origin":15601,"position":2},"title":"Verdun Gets 2 Million Dollars for Aquatic Centre Project","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"March 4, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Lis\u00e9e\u00a0announced that Verdun can count on receiving two million dollars for its planned Aquatic Centre from the Quebec Government last Friday. Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Lis\u00e9e included the figure in an infrastructure funding announcement for four projects: \u00a0 Verdun's aquatic centre got $2 million; The Coll\u00e8ge de Bois-de-Boulogne\u2019s swimming pool got\u00a0$1.4 million,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Verdun"","block_context":{"text":"Verdun","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/canada\/verdunposts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Lis\u00e9e sitting next to Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Parenteau at the Verdun Aquatic Centre funding announcement","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014-02-28-13.19.14-600x450.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014-02-28-13.19.14-600x450.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014-02-28-13.19.14-600x450.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":951,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/chantale-michaud-quebec-solidaire-candidate-in-verdun\/","url_meta":{"origin":15601,"position":3},"title":"Chantale Michaud: Quebec Solidaire Candidate in Verdun","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"August 30, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I met with Chantale Michaud in her riding office last week for an interview in English. Michaud confirmed the major parts of her history of active public service in Verdun, including her participation on the board of directors of Station, an intergenerational community center on Nun\u2019s Island for seniors and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Politics That Matter"","block_context":{"text":"Politics That Matter","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/cultural-identity\/politics-that-matter\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Michaud.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3078,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/verdun-council-split\/","url_meta":{"origin":15601,"position":4},"title":"Verdun Council Split between \u00c9quipe Coderre & Projet Montreal","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"November 6, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Voters in Verdun split their choices between all the candidates who represented change. \u201cEveryone in Verdun wants change and our position is not so far from that of Projet Montreal or even M\u00e9lanie Joly,\u201d says Jean-Fan\u00e7ois Parenteau, who is now mayor-elect of the borough. \u201cAs long as there\u2019s change we\u2019re\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Verdun"","block_context":{"text":"Verdun","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/canada\/verdunposts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Parenteau","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Parenteau.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3193,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/verdun-councillors-active-since-election\/","url_meta":{"origin":15601,"position":5},"title":"Verdun Councillors Active Since the Election","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"December 17, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The Borough of Verdun has already held two council meetings since the election, a special one on November 18 and the first regularly scheduled one on Tuesday, December 3. Also last week, several Verdun councillors were appointed by Denis Coderre to sit on Montreal\u2019s executive committee, the agglomeration council, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Politics That Matter"","block_context":{"text":"Politics That Matter","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/cultural-identity\/politics-that-matter\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15601"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15601\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15602,"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15601\/revisions\/15602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}