After a big victory, Valérie Plante returns as Montreal mayor with even bigger challenges ahead
CBC
Valérie Plante is back for another four years. It has been a remarkable run for a politician who burst onto the scene in 2017, upsetting veteran politician Denis Coderre to become mayor of the second largest city in Canada.
In her rematch with Coderre, Plante offered up a more tempered set of proposals than she had the first time around, when she grabbed attention with her idea for a new Metro line, a heightened focus on the environment and a promise to get the traffic-clogged city moving again.
Still, there was no shortage of promises in 2021, and, after four years in power, she demonstrated a more seasoned approach to politics.
Under the banner of Projet Montréal, a growing progressive force in city politics, she presented herself as the best candidate to steer the city through what she called the "ecological transition" to counter climate change, with more money for public transit, an expanded network of bike lanes and a pledge to plant half a million more trees over the next decade.
Her platform still cites the proposed Pink Metro line, but after failing to secure funding from the provincial and federal government during her last mandate, she barely mentioned it during the campaign.
The party's strongest support remains where it started, in the city's densely populated, trendy Plateau-Mont-Royal borough, where residents welcomed cycling-friendly planning and traffic-calming measures, but it has also succeeded in gaining support in the city's more car-reliant outer reaches.
Given the rising price of housing in a city not long ago envied for its low cost of living, Plante also pledged to create 60,000 affordable housing units by 2030 and bring in new measures to prevent landlords from illegally hiking the rent or kicking tenants out to flip the property.
And, in a bid to fend off Coderre, who played up a spike in gun violence over the summer, she pledged to hire 250 more police officers even though members of her party had called for reforms to the service.
Her candidacy clearly struck a chord.
After a race in which Plante and Coderre were neck and neck in opinion polls throughout most of the campaign, Plante secured 52 per cent of the vote Sunday night, 14 percentage points more than Coderre. Her party is also projected to have a majority of seats on council.
The question now becomes: what will she do with this opportunity?
The city, it should be said, faces immense financial challenges. Hit hard by the pandemic, the city was bailed out in 2020 by the Quebec government to the order of $263 million and, even though it's facing its own budget challenges, the province will likely need to do so again.
The city's public transit service, the STM, also warned it's facing a budget shortfall and could be forced to cut back services.
In an interview with CBC News after her victory, Plante singled out housing as the number one priority, because it was "priority for Montrealers and it's ours as well."
A recent market and fundraiser showcasing Palestinian-owned businesses in Hamilton, including new start-ups by people from Gaza who now call the city home, was met with “incredible” support, organizers say.
This time next year, Joellah Fletcher plans to be prepping or taking her final exams to become a certified Red Seal carpenter.
East of the small village of Coutts, Alta., a stone’s throw from the border with the United States, Cindy Bosch’s day-to-day life looks much like it did a year ago.
For years, police have been on the front lines of mental health crisis calls in Toronto, but the city's police chief believes it's now time to rethink that approach.
One of Prince Edward Island’s last surviving Second World War veterans has died.
Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada has too much regulation and not enough investments in clean energy and technology — and he's making his most direct repudiation yet of his predecessor's environmental policies.
WARNING: This story contains distressing content, including racist, violent and antisemitic language.
A national Jewish advocacy organization is taking legal action against Manitoba's medical regulator over a complaint it made last year alleging a prominent doctor made antisemitic comments on social media.
A cat that went missing in a remote area of northeastern B.C. is finally back home with its family in Oklahoma, five months later.
It wasn’t clear trolleys would be a hit in Medicine Hat, but the Sunshine Trolley has wound its way into Hatters’ hearts.
More than 200 volunteers and politicians gathered in Etobicoke Saturday for the Daily Bread Food Bank’s holiday sort.
The rising cost-of-living has already made supporting a family difficult this year. But, the holidays can make staying on budget that much harder.
Strong winds across the Maritimes left thousands of N.B. Power customers without electricity on Saturday afternoon — and it could be days before all customers have their power restored.