Because it has “transformed” Montreal over the last seven years, Mayor Valérie Plante says she is convinced that her party will remain in power in the next municipal elections, in 2025. And already, her potential successors are starting to make their intentions known.
Updated yesterday at 7:12 p.m.
What you need to know
- Mayor Valérie Plante says she is convinced that her party will be re-elected, regardless of her successor;
- Several Project Montreal leaders confirmed their interest at town hall on Sunday;
- We do not know who will have the support of the outgoing mayor, but she promises to go all the way, including the electoral campaign.
“What we are recognized for is having done great things, having transformed the city. We marked the territory. […] I am convinced that Montrealers will choose us next time,” insisted the mayor during an emotional speech closing her party’s congress on Sunday.
One year before the next elections, Mme Plante called on his troops to “explain the complexity of the issues” to the population, without falling into the trap of “simple” politics.
“We need to tell Montrealers that a bike path is not what causes traffic in Montreal. What causes traffic is the increasing number of cars. We are going to tell them that we are putting in cycle paths, but that in the end, what interests us is to secure living environments,” persisted the elected official.
PHOTO CHARLES WILLIAM PELLETIER, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Valérie Plante and other participants at the Projet Montréal conference
His party “decided that our neighborhoods would not be shortcuts to get to work faster in the morning », aiming to “improve the city for those who live in it, who live it”.
Several elected representatives from Projet Montréal took advantage of the day to confirm their interest in taking over. This is the case of the mayor of Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension, Laurence Lavigne-Lalonde, who, after three mandates, prided herself on “knowing the machine well” at the microphone of -.
Councilor Alia Hassan-Cournol indicated she wanted to “go further”, while the head of town planning, Robert Beaudry, “does not close the door”. Behind the scenes, several other elected officials are continuing the reflection, including the president of the executive committee, Luc Rabouin, the mayor of Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie, François Limoges, the mayor of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Gracia Kasoki Katahwa, and the mayor of Ahuntsic-Cartierville, Émilie Thuillier, to name just a few.
No “bling-bling”
During her two mandates, Valérie Plante claims to have heard her “detractors” tell her that “it is not very prestigious to take care of neighborhoods, that we should take care of international influence and big businesses, bring in international events, more bling-bling things.”
“I think they have it all wrong,” she retorted. According to her, large cities like Paris, London or Barcelona know that “to attract investors”, we must offer “quality of life to workers”.
Visibly proud of her legacy, Mme Plante listed having “doubled the green spaces” in Montreal, in addition to having supported several public transport projects and accelerated the construction of social housing.
“Now, should we build more? Yes, and we will continue to work on that,” she noted.
The one who called herself the “mayor of mobility” in 2017, however, recognizes that construction sites cause a lot of irritants. “We don’t like it, either. We’re doing it because it’s the right thing to do, because it’s been decades since previous administrations took care of it, it’s not very popular, it’s not sexy, it doesn’t work. votes,” she reiterated.
Pivotal moment
Despite the interest of several tenors, Mme Plante is not closing the door to an external candidate to succeed him. Solidarity deputy Vincent Marissal, for example, does not hide the fact that he is thinking of running for town hall. The mayor believes, however, that “the talent is great” within her own party, and that “many extremely experienced elected officials are around the executive committee table”.
I’m happy that there are people from outside who are interested in the party, and that doesn’t surprise me. We are the party with the most money in its coffers, we have extremely involved activists. Everything is there to give outsiders a taste.
Valérie Plante, mayor of Montreal
In her speech, she stressed that her party had “survived” the departure of its founder, Richard Bergeron, in 2014. “Everyone said that, my god, we would never survive that. Well, no. We stood. We bent like a reed, but we remained well anchored. And we got through it. »
Nevertheless, the coming months, concluded the mayor, will be “a pivotal moment”. She assured that she wanted to “be there until the end”, alongside the next leader. The latter will have to “know the terrain and come from the base”, she clarified, opposing a candidacy which would be “parachuted” onto the municipal scene.
“We are going to win elections”
It is the current vice-president of the party, Marie-Ève Veilleux, who was elected to the presidency of the party. She will therefore take over from Guedwig Bernier; the latter had been in office since April 2020, in addition to being involved with the party since 2018. “The year is going to be intense. […] We are going to win elections,” insisted Mme Veilleux, during a speech, promising to support all future candidates in their mobilization and financing activities. A leadership race will be launched “very soon”, indicated the new president, without going further.
Learn more
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- 54 %
- This is the proportion of some 1,500 respondents to a SOM-survey.The Pressmade public in October, who believe that Valérie Plante should not obtain a third term. Around 27% of Montrealers would have given it another chance, while 19% didn’t know yet, or preferred not to answer.
SOURCE : sondage SOM-The Press
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