“I remember three years ago I had gone to a real estate conference in Toronto and the analyst on stage talked about various cities and provinces, and how great they were and how things were rocking and rolling everywhere else. And when they got to Montreal, he spent about three seconds. He says, “Montreal is Montreal. Nothing has changed. And it’ll be Montreal.”

I took offense to that. I was in the back of the room and I thought, wait a second, is there no one that’s going to speak up on behalf of Montreal? We have a lot more to offer than they think. I left that conference and I said, “I can’t speak for everyone, every Montrealer, but I’ll do my part.”

And I started promoting the city. Not promoting the company I was working for, not promoting myself, but promoting the city, and all of the positives to this city. Because I felt, I’ll do my part. And hopefully someone will hear, and someone will want to do their part as well for the city. And the more people we can get talking about it, the more minds will change. And the more people will get behind us. Looking back today, I think we made a positive change. Where many people are talking about Montreal. You look at Montrealers today, they’re smiling, they’re happy. Politics are not an issue. Language is not an issue. People are walking proud in our city.”