She has been in the public eye for 20 years, but Soraya Martinez Ferrada, 53, is still a relative unknown to most Montrealers.

The second female mayor and Montreal’s first Latin American mayor was projected to become the city’s next mayor Sunday , having earned 43 per cent of the vote as of publication. Projet Montréal Leader Luc Rabouin, her nearest rival, had earned just 35 per cent.

“I am an immigrant, I am a child of Bill 101, I am a woman of Montreal, and I am here, chez moi,” Martinez Ferrada told a cheering crowd at the Tohu Sunday night. “This is the message of a city that recognizes the richness of its diversity.”

The race to become the city’s top magistrate swung wide open about a year ago when Mayor Valérie Plante announced she wouldn’t seek a third term.

The 2025 municipal

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