Valérie Plante

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Her Worship

Valérie Plante
2016-09-20 Valerie Plante (cropped).jpg
Valérie Plante in September 2016
45th Mayor of Montreal
Assumed office
16 November 2017
Preceded byDenis Coderre
Leader of Projet Montréal
Assumed office
4 December 2016
Preceded byLuc Ferrandez (ad interim)
Richard Bergeron
Montreal City Councillor for Sainte-Marie
In office
2013–2017
Preceded byPierre Mainville
Succeeded bySophie Mauzerolle
Personal details
Born (1974-06-14) June 14, 1974 (age 47)
Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec
Political partyProjet Montréal
ResidenceMontreal, Quebec
Alma materUniversité de Montréal

Valérie Plante (born June 14, 1974) is a Canadian politician serving as the 45th and current Mayor of Montreal since 2017.[1] First elected to Montreal City Council in the 2013 election, she has served as leader of the Projet Montréal party since December 2016.

She was Projet Montréal's candidate for mayor in the 2017 municipal election, and was elected Mayor of Montreal on November 5, 2017.[2] She is the first woman to be elected mayor of Montreal, having been preceded only by councillor Jane Cowell-Poitras's two brief stints as acting mayor following mayoral resignations in the early 2010s and by the ceremonial appointment of Lise Payette as mayor of the city for one day to mark the International Women's Year in 1976.[3]

Early life and education[]

Plante was born in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, on June 14, 1974.[4][5][6] She spent a year in North Bay, Ontario as a teenager to learn English.[7][8] In 1994, she moved to Montreal to attend university, receiving a degree in anthropology in 1997,[5] and another in museology in 2001.[5][6][7] She then worked for a number of non-profit organizations, most notably as communications director of the Girls Action Foundation – Fondation Filles d'Action.[7]

In the 1990s, she worked as a tour guide at Vimy Ridge in France.[9]

Political career[]

City councillor[]

In the 2013 Montreal municipal election, Plante was elected councillor for the Sainte-Marie district of the Ville-Marie borough, defeating former provincial minister and 2009 Montreal mayoral candidate Louise Harel.[4] She was named opposition critic for downtown, tourism, and for women's affairs. She was also named vice-president of city council, as well as substitute mayor for Ville-Marie.

In the fall of 2016, Plante announced her run for the leadership of Projet Montréal. She went on to win the leadership election with 51.9%, defeating .[10]

Mayoral campaign[]

Main article: 2017 Montreal municipal election

Valérie Plante was elected Mayor of Montreal on November 5, 2017, becoming the first woman to be elected in this position. Few had predicted that Plante would be able to take down the incumbent mayor, Denis Coderre, a former Liberal MP and cabinet minister, at the beginning of the campaign. Plante won over voters on a promise to improve public transit (including a new Metro line), alleviate traffic woes and make the city more family friendly.[1] On election day, Plante won 51 percent of the vote, compared to 46 percent for Coderre. Projet Montréal also won a majority of seats on the city council.[11]

Mayoralty[]

One of Plante's key campaign planks in the 2017 municipal election was the creation of a "Pink Line", a new Montreal Metro line to improve public transit service between downtown and on two axes to the boroughs of Montréal-Nord and Lachine.[12]

Personal life[]

Plante has two children.[13] She is married to Pierre-Antoine Harvey, an economist with the Centrale des syndicats du Québec.[7]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "Valérie Plante elected mayor of Montreal, beating out Denis Coderre". CBC News, November 5, 2017.
  2. ^ "Valérie Plante elected first female mayor of Montreal". Global News. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
  3. ^ "Valérie Plante defeats Denis Coderre to become first woman elected mayor of Montreal". The Globe and Mail, November 6, 2017.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b "Valérie Plante, la novice". lapresse.ca. September 30, 2017.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Élection de Valérie Plante: "Ça fait tellement longtemps qu'on travaille pour ça" - Isabelle Ducas - Grand Montréal". November 6, 2017.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b Fortier, Marco (November 6, 2017). "Valérie Plante passe à l'histoire à Montréal" – via Le Devoir.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "Voici 10 choses à savoir sur Valérie Plante, la première mairesse de Montréal". Le Journal de Montréal, November 5, 2017.
  8. ^ Isai, Vjosa (November 6, 2017). "Who is Valérie Plante, Montreal's new mayor?" – via Toronto Star.
  9. ^ "'It's always in your heart': Montrealers pay respects at Remembrance Day ceremony". CBC News. November 11, 2017. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
  10. ^ "Projet Montréal elects Valérie Plante as new leader". CBC News. December 4, 2016.
  11. ^ "'Politics with a smile': New Montreal mayor Valérie Plante won by positioning herself as the anti-Coderre". National Post. November 6, 2017. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
  12. ^ Her election posters were hung up around Montreal to spread her mayoral ideas. Valérie Plante claimed that her posters were strategically placed in certain areas where she knew her ideas would easily be spread."Projet Montréal wants to add 'Pink line' to Metro". CBC News, May 29, 2017.
  13. ^ "Montréal élit sa première mairesse". Métro, November 6, 2017.

External links[]

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