DeSousa is the borough mayor.. kind of like a glorified city councillor. He has won only because he associates himself with the party that wins the Montreal mayoralty. (Montreal municipal elections work on a party system) Voter turnout in the St Laurent borough is only 35%, of which Desousa won 50%. That's not a lot of support. But he keeps winning for the same reason that Denis Coderre is mayor, ie, there is no effective opposition. There is only one opposition party in Montreal, whose entire platform is social housing and bicycles.

He is quite disliked by many citizens because he headed the committee that fought to have the former independent city of St Laurent merge with the city of Montreal. As a result, taxes went up and services went down, but it secured Desousa the post of borough mayor.