allison hanes: valérie plante will be leaving mayor's office on her own terms
the first woman to serve as montreal's mayor has always done things differently. her departure is no exception.
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i still have the front page of the gazette from nov. 6, 2017, the morning after valérie plante soared to victory as the first woman elected mayor of montreal.
the cover bore a cartoon by aislin that depicted plante as wonder woman, because she had both improbably unseated an incumbent and shattered the glass ceiling at city hall.
i kept this relic with a stack of papers from other watershed moments in my lifetime: 9/11; when barack obama was elected president of the united states; the day the world health organization declared covid-19 a pandemic.
plante’s success signalled a moment of hope for girls and women that female leaders can indeed reach the highest offices. recall that only a year earlier, hillary clinton had narrowly missed out on becoming the first woman in the oval office. the wounds from that stinging defeat were still fresh. plante’s achievement was a salve.
so it seems somehow fitting that plante has announced she won’t seek a third term on the eve of another potentially historic election. in a few weeks, democratic nominee and u.s. vice-president kamala harris, once a montrealer herself, could succeed where clinton failed — while also perhaps becoming the first black and indian-american woman to serve as u.s. president (although no one is taking anything for granted this time).
aislin’s gazette cartoon from the morning after valérie plante’s 2017 election victory.
illustration: aislin / montreal gazette
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of course, as plante and many other female leaders know, the thrilling symbolism of a woman winning is quickly replaced by the bruising realities of a woman wielding power. the sheen comes off, the knives come out — even when trying to do politics with a laugh and a smile. and in getting down to business, all leaders need to do more than serve as inspirational figures; they have to show competence and accountability.
like many women in office, plante has faced ugly, misogynist threats. like many women in positions of authority, she has found herself facing double standards, heightened expectations and the magnification of her missteps. some thought she got a rougher ride for being a woman. others thought she got off easy. she’s been damned either way.
sunny ways aside, plante has always had her haters, and every now and then their criticism reaches a fevered pitch.
this has occurred almost every time her administration decided to remove parking spots or transfer lanes for vehicles to bikes and buses. yet the bus rapid transit corridor on pie-ix blvd. got built, as did the réseau express vélo path on st-denis st.
it also happened after the first wave of the pandemic, when frustrations about the maze of orange cones and detours dogged a mayor who vowed to improve mobility. yet she managed to defy the doubters by winning a second, even stronger mandate in 2021 after a rematch against former mayor denis coderre. clearly, many montrealers have embraced her agenda, even if their voices aren’t always the loudest hollering in the public square.
mayor valérie plante arrives for a news conference announcing a redesign of camillien-houde way on mount royal on wednesday september 13, 2023.
pierre obendrauf
/
montreal gazette
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that’s not to say plante hasn’t made her share of blunders.
her first big fumble was trying to mask a larger-than-promised property tax hike in her first city budget. it was an early blow to public trust. her first ham-fisted attempt to ban cars from mount royal provoked a widespread backlash, and a climb down. she returned with a revamp in her second term, to mixed reviews. her administration’s naive and ill-considered attempts to foster “cohabitation” between the unhoused, drug users and residents in st-henri, the village and ville-marie backfired when legitimate concerns were dismissed. family-friendly neighbourhoods came under siege and social acceptance for such projects was compromised citywide.
plante has also fallen short on some of her signature goals. her record on public transit is surprisingly lacklustre. she pledged a new pink line of the métro, but montrealers are still waiting for the long-delayed blue line extension. quebec’s eagerness to build a rem de l’est cratered over concerns about unsightly elevated tracks. transit in montreal is now free for seniors, thanks to plante, but underfunding by the quebec government could lead to service cuts. this isn’t all on plante, of course, but she has struggled to find backers to realize her vision.
mayor valérie plante takes a bixi for a spin around the hall of honour at city hall in montreal on friday april 12, 2019 during a news conference kicking off the annual bixi season.
john mahoney
/
montreal gazette
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though plante has made efforts to address systemic discrimination in a diverse metropolis, the courts have ruled montreal police have engaged in racial profiling and the city is on the hook for damages. meanwhile, allegations of racism in certain city departments persist.
plante has long called for more social and affordable housing, but her bylaw to get developers to include it in all new projects has yet to yield a single unit.
plante leaves a strong legacy on climate change, both in montreal and on the world stage. her administration banned all plastic bags, as well as single-use plastic straws, takeout containers and utensils. she has made strides in acquiring and protecting green space, including the technoparc wetlands, the grand parc de l’ouest and the lachine waterfront. and plante has promoted innovative adaptation measures, like the creation of sponge parks to absorb runoff and, soon, a sponge street.
valérie plante delivers remarks during the opening ceremony of the cop15 un conference on biodiversity in montreal on tuesday, december 6, 2022.
paul chiasson
/
the canadian press
as mayor, plante has been a champion for women. her executive committee had gender parity from the start and she made efforts to elevate women to key roles. she blazed a trail for other young female mayors across the province. in fact, she paved the way for a new generation of likeminded progressive mayors in quebec city, laval and longueuil who have increasingly sought to transform their cities in montreal’s image, while uniting their voices behind shared priorities.
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but the grumbling about plante has started anew. a growing chorus of montrealers is denouncing her handling of homelessness, drug addiction, the housing crisis, youth violence and construction mayhem. she likely could have proved them wrong once again, given that almost a year from election day, no credible opponents had lined up to take her on.
this time, however, she has decided to bow out gracefully — a surprise, given she had insisted she would run again.
but plante has always done things differently. her departure is no exception.
it was with a little joke and her trademark laugh that plante announced wednesday she’ll finish out her mandate, then leave the mayor’s office as she arrived: on her own terms, true to herself and with her head held high.
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