The 75-year-old is not only one of the most experienced councillors in Montreal, he must also be one of the fittest. “Marathon training now interferes too much with day-to-day work, but I still enter 5k and 10k fun-runs,” says Allmand, who is the oldest member of his over-50s hockey team. “My doctor says I'm in pretty good shape.”

A return to politics at the local level may have lacked some of the glamour and power of the House of Commons, but the workload is no smaller. “It has turned out to be busier than I thought,” he said. “And a lot of my work does involve doing something about the pot-holes or blocked sewers.”

Initially invited into local politics to help draw up the Montreal Charter of Rights and Responsibilities, he is still enthusiastic about more ordinary council work. “Some of these issues may seem mundane in comparison to genocide in Rwanda or apartheid in South Africa,” said the civil rights lawyer. “But what gives me satisfaction is helping people fight City Hall when they have a justified complaint and it is being ignored.”

Some of the desire to represent those who can not fight for themselves comes from Allmand's youth. His father spent a period working with the railway New Brunswick, where they witnessed the effects of the depression. “There were people living in shacks, with no shoes. There were no social programs, just soup kitchens,” he said. “That, along with the [second world] war, formed an urge within me to do something about these problems.”

Allmand cites Lester B. Pearson as the reason he joined the Liberal party. “He was someone for whom I had a lot of respect, but I joined the Young Liberals without thinking I'd ever be elected,” he said. “I thought I would simply be a militant within the party, but suddenly an opening came and I got nominated and elected.”

After seven years as an MP Allmand was asked to join Pierre Trudeau's 1972 cabinet as Solicitor General. Abolishing the death penalty in Canada remains his proudest achievement. Bill C-84 was narrowly passed in 1976. “We were accused of being soft on crime . . . but the death penalty only brutalizes society,” he said. “If you are serious about crime, you deal with the causes of crime. But we only won by six votes. It was close.”

One of his most notable actions in politics came as a back bencher in 1995, voting against Paul Martin's spending cuts on health care and education. “The budget was totally contrary to our election platform,” he said. “We were going against the tradition of the Liberal party.”

Becoming frustrated with his party's move to the right, Allmand retired as an MP two years later. He then served as president of the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development until 2002 and was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2000. He has lectured on International Human Rights in McGill and is the current president of the World Federalist Movement–Canada.

Despite being as busy as ever, Allmand's personal ambition hasn't diminished. “There are some marathons around the world I would still love to do,” he said. “I don't know if I'll go back to it at one time.”

It would be brave to bet against him.

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