With 16 days until Montrealers decide their next municipal administration, what to do with the Habs wasn't the only thing being debated Thursday.
Projet Montreal's Valerie Plante and incumbent Denis Coderre went head-to-head in the first official debate of the campaign.
Overall it was respectful, with some interruptions and included two visions for the city and a sexual harassment revelation.
Coderre told the crowd of about 400 that his record and experience as a politician speak for themselves. He said Montreal is doing well economically and is turning into a major player on the world stage in attracting businesses and jobs. He talked about his administration has been transparent and put the days of corruption at City Hall behind.
Plante continued to promote her plan for a new Pink Metro line connecting Lachine and Montreal North. She also focused on her promises to provide more housing for families while easing their tax burden as well as creating safer and eco-friendlier neighbourhoods.
Some topics produced a more heated debate at times.
When asked about spending taxpayers' money on a new baseball stadium, Plante said the decision would be up to Montrealers and would put the question up for referendum. She also took the opportunity to attack her opponent, denouncing what she called closed door and private negotiations.
Coderre was coy about his plan. He told the crowd no costs have been discussed and it's not needed for several more years.
The Pink Line was another hot topic.
Coderre again called the project unrealistic, adding the current estimate of cost and timeframe are well below what reality will be. He also challenged Plante on where she will find the billions of dollars needed for the new line.
Plante said the money is available via infrastructure funds setup by the Quebec and Federal governments; however she did give concrete figures.
One of the bigger moments of the night was while the pair talked about traffic issues.
Plante brought up the hiring last spring of former traffic reporter Pierre Lacasse. She said he was hired to help ease congestion during the large number of roadwork projects over the summer but nothing was done and instead Lacasse left the administration after a couple of months without any explanation.
Coderre quickly interrupted her, and for the first time publicly confirmed Lacasse was let go because of a sexual harassment complaint. He said Plante knew the traffic expert was let go because City Hall has a zero tolerance policy, and the city wanted to protect its female employees. After the debate Coderre criticized Plante for politicizing the issue.
While the debate showed the two candidates do not see eye to eye on most issues, they both agree the Quebec Liberal government's religious neutrality law, Bill 62, has no place in Montreal with neither supporting the law.
Bill 62 was also a hot topic at Wednesday's debate featuring the Cote des Neiges-Notre Dame de Grace mayoral hopefuls.
Current borough mayor Russell Copeman came out swinging before any questions had been asked, accusing Projet Montreal's Valerie Plante of flip-flopping on the important social issue.
The party's candidate in the race, former journalist Sue Montgomery, said Projet Montreal's stance on the bill is clear, and that it opposes the legislation.
In Westmount three candidates are vying to replace the now retired Peter Trent, who was mayor of the city for 19 of the past 26 years.
Christina Smith was acclaimed as mayor of Westmount in April 2017, wants to keep moving forward on the plan to improve bike paths and keep prioritizing city programs.
"We've almost doubled what we've spent on infrastructure totally in the budget and I will continue that pace. Do I think sidewalks are important? Absolutely, that's a livable, walkable city, I think they should be wider in a lot of places," Smith told CTV Montreal.
"I can build consensus, I listen to people and then I make decisive action and so I will continue to do that."
Newspaper editor and publisher Beryl Wajsman wants use his history of working with the federal Liberals to better organize city planning.
"If I make the roads a priority we're not going to do refraction on the corners of the sidewalks this year, we might do them next year. We're going to fix the fissures in the roads first," Wajsman said.
He also wants to do more to support local businesses.
"Every cent of new revenue, after what has to be paid to the agglo, will be distributed to tax reduction on a two-thirds-one-third basis between the residents and the commercial citizens of Westmount."
Also in the race Patrick Martin, a councillor and the city's public works commissioner for 12 years.
"What struck me is the lack of forward vision of the town, the lack of planning. We should have a 20 year plan of what we should do for our infrastructure," Martin said.
Martin said with his experience in public works he knows how to modernize the permit system as well as help local merchants.
"With all the taxes they pay we don't even offer the merchants the same recycling we offer to homeowners who pay far less tax per mill rate," said Martin.