Former Montreal mayoral candidate Balarama Holness forms new provincial party

Former Montreal mayoral candidate Balarama Holness has confirmed to Global News that he’s making the move to provincial politics.

The ex-Montreal Alouettes football player will officially make the announcement at noon Wednesday in Quebec City.

Under the banner Mouvement Quebec, Holness says he wants to target Liberal strongholds in Montreal’s west end and the West Island, where he performed well during the 2021 municipal campaign.

NDG and Nelligan are two of the ridings he wants to capture, along with provincial Liberal leader Dominique Anglade’s riding of Saint-Henri-Sainte-Anne.

The idea of forming a new party to rival the Liberals has been touted recently by a number of Anglo rights groups who feel abandoned by the existing options in Quebec provincial politics.

–with files from Global’s Phil Carpenter