Article content continued

And he appears less than enamoured with Americans. He told Metro newspaper in 2009 that not all Americans are dumb, obese, imbecilic, uncultured ignoramuses — only about 80 per cent of them.

“If I say Americans are a bunch of big, obese, imbecilic, ignorant, uncultured dummies, it’s the truth,” he told the newspaper.

“Of course it’s sure bet that out of 303 million Americans, there are maybe 50 million who aren’t like that. But, collectively, they’re still a bunch of uncultured imbeciles.”

It’s unclear what sort of a constituency Brule’s message might gain him.

He is not considered among the three main front-runners for the race.

And, in the last campaign, a candidate who questioned the official story of the 9-11 attacks was grilled over his views and finished third. That third-place candidate from the last race, Richard Bergeron, is running again as head of a prominent local grassroots party.

The two presumed front-runners are former immigration minister Denis Coderre and Marcel Cote, a fellow at Harvard University, economist, businessman, management consultant, local philanthropist, and official in the Prime Minister’s Office of Brian Mulroney.

Anglo voters do carry some clout in the city. Cote was recruited by a former Pequiste cabinet minister, Louise Harel, who announced she would not run for mayor this time because she conceded that she couldn’t win votes in English-speaking areas.

Brule told a TV interviewer Thursday that he wouldn’t even bother trying. He noted that Anglos voted in 2009 for a party mired in scandal, instead of Harel or Bergeron. He said that as mayor he would emphasize the city’s francophone status.