“Montreal Election Candidates Push for Inclusive Representation”

Some candidates are urging Élections Montréal to enhance inclusivity after initially posting obscure and gloomy photos of Black candidates on its website. These images are part of a trial project aimed at providing voters with more information about municipal election candidates, involving the uploading of candidate photos and bios online as well as including images on ballots.

Carol-Ann Hoyte, a city councillor candidate with Transition Montréal in the Côte-des-Neiges district, expressed unease over her photo on the Élections Montréal website. She remarked that the photo did not accurately represent her and questioned how anyone could vote for her based solely on that picture.

Transition Montréal had initially planned to use professional headshots for all its candidates but had to switch to black-and-white passport-style photos as per Élections Montréal’s requirements. Despite adjusting the photos accordingly, Hoyte faced challenges submitting her application with a photocopy of her headshot, leading to disappointing results for many candidates with darker skin tones.

Joseanne Cudjoe, a scholar in critical race and gender studies at the University of Toronto, highlighted that the way these photos were displayed perpetuates racist stereotypes, associating darkness with negative connotations. This portrayal may undermine the candidates’ credibility and reinforce harmful biases.

In response to the criticisms, Élections Montréal acknowledged the issue and stated that it is working on processing candidate information, potentially involving reuploading or rescanning photos. The organization emphasized its commitment to rectify any shortcomings in the presentation of candidate profiles on the website.

Following CBC’s inquiry, some adjustments have already been made to the photos of dark-skinned candidates on the website. Renate Betts, another city councillor candidate with Transition Montréal, commended Élections Montréal’s efforts to modernize the election process but emphasized the importance of considering diverse representation and perspectives.

Hoyte expressed hope that Élections Montréal would allow her to resubmit her photo and provide clearer guidance on lighting and photo standards for Black candidates in the future. She highlighted the need to address these oversights to ensure fair and equitable representation in the electoral process.