Meet some new, diverse candidates running in Montreal's municipal election
CBC
Gracia Kasoki Katahwa knows there has never been a mayor in Côte-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grâce who looks like her.
It is Montreal's most populous borough, and one of its more diverse. Of the more than 160,000 people who live there, nearly half (47 per cent) identify as a visible minority, according to the 2016 census.
The largest proportion of them are Black, like Katahwa.
"That's why I'm running in CDN-NDG. Because I represent change," she told CBC News.
"I think many people in the borough, many young people in the borough or many parents, will see themselves in me, or their children in me."
Katahwa, a nurse-turned-first-time political candidate, is running to be borough mayor with Projet Montréal. She credits the party with helping her make the jump into politics.
"The reason why I'm standing here in front of you today, it's because of the actions that they took to make sure that we recruit [enough] candidates that come from diverse backgrounds."