allison hanes: plante has big plans for final year as mayor, but this isn't how to go about them
the furor over the announcement of pedestrianized zones for ste-catherine st. shows the importance of thorough consultation.
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we’ve heard of lame-duck presidents.
it’s a term for a leader whose successor has already been or is soon to be elected and whose days in office are numbered. u.s. president joe biden is an obvious contemporary example.
while he still has almost two months until he moves out of the white house and donald trump will only be sworn in on jan. 20, any major moves biden makes for the rest of his term could be called into question. their legitimacy could be challenged, even though biden is still the one and only president of the united states, as per the process set out for the peaceful transfer of power.
the situation with montreal mayor valérie plante is slightly different. she still has just under a year left in her second term, after announcing in october that she will not seek a third mandate.
the next mayor has not yet been chosen — that won’t happen until the election next november. plante’s party, projet montréal, won’t select a new leader until march. and no one is officially in the running to take on whomever projet montréal picks.
the ensemble montréal opposition has disqualified the only contender so far interested in the long-vacant spot at the party’s helm, and on friday postponed its leadership race to give prospective candidates (anyone? anyone?) more time. no city hall outsiders or independents have yet lined up to take a crack at the mayor’s office, either — at least not any big names who stand a shot at winning.
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that leaves plante firmly in charge — at least until mid-march, when a projet montréal heir apparent will have to weigh whether to toe the line or set their own course, which could make for some interesting times ahead in city politics. until then, plante is moving full steam ahead with her agenda — including controversial things that won’t be completed before she leaves office.
the news that the city plans to pedestrianize two portions of ste-catherine st. w. is a prime example.
plante sprung the news last week, leaving merchants in the vicinity stunned by the sudden announcement and angry that they were never consulted.
the mayor insisted discussions with various groups already took place. but it’s unclear when and with whom, since some of the major players were caught off guard.
they include glenn castanheira, executive director of montréal centre-ville, and michel leblanc, president of the chamber of commerce of metropolitan montreal. plante has been working closely with both groups to revitalize downtown since the pandemic struck and left it hurting.
castanheira professed himself “shocked by the approach that was used by the administration to make irreversible decisions without public consultations and without informing us of these decisions.”
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leblanc was more measured, saying many of the changes plante has made to ste-catherine st. over her two terms have improved the downtown shopping experience after being initially greeted with skepticism. however, he said taking a step as drastic as creating two permanent barriers to through traffic on the thoroughfare “should not be the fruit of a unilateral reflection imposed on merchants.”
both called for a real consultation and a postponement of any concrete plans for the area until after the next election.
what plante just unveiled is major.
the sections of the downtown shopping street that would be closed to cars are a two-block stretch of ste-catherine between guy and bishop sts., right in front of concordia university’s ev building; and a portion between mansfield st. and robert-bourassa blvd. — or in shopper’s lingo, from place montreal trust to the far end of the block where the newly renovated eaton centre is situated.
the closures would also include mcgill college ave. between cathcart and sherbrooke sts. (i.e., from place ville marie to mcgill university), where place oscar peterson is supposed to be built once the mcgill rem station opens. together, this would form a cross-shaped plaza in the middle of montreal’s most iconic shopping district.
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in an interview with patrice roy of radio-canada, plante called this a “compromise,” since it technically keeps traffic along ste-catherine. but leblanc and many individual business owners wonder how the car-free segments will affect already hellish downtown congestion, given the detours they will create. the partial pedestrianization also comes after vehicle traffic on other overhauled portions of ste-catherine was reduced to a single lane, while sidewalks were widened.
plante’s vision may well have merit. other cities are closing major thoroughfares to cars and opening them to the masses, from beijing to barcelona. london recently announced plans to banish vehicles from oxford st., a popular high street similar to ste-catherine.
but dropping the project from the sky is not the way to achieve buy-in.
the problem is that plante is running out of time to consult on the big things she still wants to do before leaving office, and seems to be abandoning the reflex that has served her well during her two terms.
the mayor not only used public hearings for urban planning matters, like the blueprints for new neighbourhoods such as namur-hippodrome, lachine-est or bridge-bonaventure; she has also turned to them to address hot-button social issues from systemic discrimination to homelessness. they’ve proven a useful strategy to buy time or relieve pressure.
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however, plante may also have realized that consultation doesn’t always yield the results she was hoping for. when she tapped the office de consultation publique de montréal in her first stem to hold hearings amid a backlash over plans to ban through traffic on mount royal, the body ultimately supported maintaining the flow of vehicles over the mountain. the case seemed closed.
then last year, plante revealed a new plan to close camillien-houde way to vehicles, turning the steep incline on the eastern flank into a pedestrian and cycling path. it may have been the product of intense behind-the-scenes work, but it nevertheless came out of the blue — and it flew in the face of the ocpm’s recommendation. it seemed like a last-ditch attempt to achieve what she initially set out to do, objections of a large number of montrealers be damned.
but the fact this isn’t supposed to be done until 2027 — when it’s now certain she will be long gone from the mayor’s office — could leave her open to criticism that she’s too much of a lame duck to sign off on such drastic measures. ditto for the pedestrianization of ste-catherine st., since the work will start in the spring of 2025 but won’t be done before the next election.
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both these issues could well become flashpoints in next year’s campaign, the more the mayor tries to steamroll through changes that haven’t yet been cast in cement.
plante may not have to answer to voters come november, but that does not let her off the hook when it comes to consulting, listening and accountability.
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