No matter who you are or what kind of car you drive, just about everybody in Montreal has to deal with the city's notoriously brutal pothole problem — and that includes the person in charge of fixing it.
Newly elected Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada experienced a quintessentially Montreal moment on Monday evening, February 2, when she hit two potholes on Notre-Dame Street and got two flat tires at once.
The mayor shared her misfortune in a video posted to her Instagram account on Monday night. "Two tires, two flats," she says in the clip, standing in an Esso gas station beside the tow truck driver who came to her rescue.
"When I tell you I understand you, do you believe me?" the caption reads.
The tow truck driver jokes in the video: "She talks about potholes, and she fell into potholes."
Martinez Ferrada acknowledged the poor state of Montreal's roads, which remains a major issue for her administration. "We're coming with solutions, but in the meantime, we're getting towed. And I know the streets, it doesn't make sense," she admitted.
Potholes have long been a massive problem in Montreal, and they seem to get worse every winter. According to data released by the city on Monday, there have been 4,200 resident reports to 311 for potholes since January 1 alone — about one-third of all the pothole reports the city received throughout 2025.
The street where the mayor got her flats is no stranger to complaints. Rue Notre-Dame Est was voted one of Montreal's five worst roads in CAA-Québec's 2025 regional ranking, based on over 3,000 public votes collected between April 2 and 27, 2025. The east-end stretch, particularly near the port, has been a frequent target of criticism for its rough condition.
Down in the comments section of Martinez Ferrada's post, Montrealers chimed in with a mix of laughter and frustration.
"Welcome to our daily life," one user said.
Another called the moment an "Uno reverse" card.
"Do something instead of just doing videos," someone else urged. "You are not an influencer."
"With all due respect, it's not funny," another comment reads.
Whether or not you're a fan of her politics, one thing's for sure: our mayor now has firsthand experience with the problem she promises to fix.
