Faithful to its editorial tradition, The duty decides on the race for mayor of Montreal. Between Denis Coderre and Valérie Plante, we much prefer the outgoing mayor to support the metropolis in the challenges of economic recovery and the climate emergency.
Denis Coderre has changed, but not that much. His work of personal introspection, in the aftermath of his painful defeat in November 2017, produced real, but limited, effects. Mr. Coderre has not lost his sense of empty formulas. Having the “metropolis reflex”, thinking “glocally”, not succumbing to the “provincialism syndrome” in matters of linguistic duality… There is no shortage of “cassettes” in the repertoire of the experienced politician.
On the long and trying road in the country, he revealed himself little by little. He is certainly a little more humble than four years ago, but no less centralizing in his conception of municipal power. And still so arrogant and irritable when subjected to a barrage of criticism. The “Denis 2.0” experienced a few bugs when it came to his ticket for texting while driving, or when he refused, until last Wednesday, to reveal his salary and his list of clients from the last one. year.
This exercise of transparency is unusual in municipal politics. Valérie Plante, mayor and modest owner occupant, lent itself to it, placing de facto M. Coderre on the defensive. He did the rest of the undermining work for his own campaign. He first pledged to reveal the information after the campaign, claiming to be bound by confidentiality commitments that he easily managed to lift. One of his clients, the real estate developer Cogir, even beat the head of Ensemble Montreal by revealing that he had awarded a consulting contract to the former mayor.
Denis Coderre finally changed his mind by disclosing his salary and the list of seven of his eight clients (the last, Transcontinental, made an outing on his own). No matter what, he tried to fool voters. They are entitled to know the list of his clients before voting, if only to determine whether Mr. Coderre has returned to politics with a thread in his paw.
The main interested party complained of being the target of a “referendum on [sa] person ”when it is a fundamental question to get an idea of his independence with regard to private interests. “I’ve been in politics all my life,” Coderre said in an interview with the To have to. Do you think I’m coming back to politics to be influenced? “
To be in politics all his life, and to consider elective positions as professions among many others. This is the other part of the unease with Denis Coderre. We believe in citizen involvement in politics as much as we aspire to the renewal of the political class. Few of Quebecers earn more than $ 458,000 a year. Mr. Coderre is a prolific consultant who has the promise of a successful career in the private sector. After 40 years in public life, he gave enough of his time and advice so that Montrealers could give him a well-deserved leave.
The Coderre moment has passed in Montreal. The necessary push in the fight against corruption and collusion has been given. The self-proclaimed “sheriff” has tried to make public safety the issue of this campaign, but no one is fooled, given the complexity of the issues relating to gun control and the repression of armed settling of scores between small rival gangs. On this subject, as on so many others, it is reductive to attribute the setbacks of Montreal to the lack of leadership of Valérie Plante, just as it is illusory to think that a single man will settle everything by the force of his ego.
Valérie Plante also has her faults. His relations with elected officials of the Montreal Metropolitan Community (CMM), the Minister of the Metropolis, Chantal Rouleau, and the business community are far from being in good shape. During the campaign, she expressed her intention to find concerted solutions to Montreal’s problems, placing the interests of citizens at the heart of her concerns.
Its interest in the social outweighs the economic, although Projet Montréal has made significant strides this year by publishing a comprehensive financial framework. The cost of the promises is estimated at 235 million in four years. The Plante administration expects to recover $ 255 million by adding new revenue and spending cuts. As long as Mme Plante will not stand in the way of the efforts of Montreal International, the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal (CCMM) and their partners, the economy of Montreal, which was the least affected by the pandemic in all of North America, will will wear wonderfully.
Moreover, those who doubt the fervor of Valérie Plante in the defense of French in the metropolis would do well to listen to Denis Coderre’s interview again at the To have to. By courting outrageously the Anglophone vote, he proposed to review the definition of the term “historic Anglophone”, the foundation on which the Charter of the French language is based in schools. His confused words brought French back to the status of a showcase for the “cachet de Montréal” (hello, multiculturalism) while praising the “added value” of the “English reality” of the metropolis on a continental scale. Let us stop telling us about his fight against Shane Doan in the past and pay attention to his current vision. Denis Coderre is ready to liberate the forces of the anglicization of Montreal to be re-elected.
In Montreal, the challenges for the coming years will relate to economic recovery, the balance of public finances, safety, improvement of public transport despite the rout of the STM and the ARTM, land use, access housing, the climate emergency, etc.
On these complex questions, Denis Coderre tried to make voters believe that all the failures and failures were the result of the actions of a single woman, Valérie Plante, while the solutions require the contribution of the three orders of government, the civil society and the business community.
The duty remains doubtful about the policies of the Plante administration in matters of public finances and housing. His promise to build 60,000 affordable housing units in four years is just as daring as Denis Coderre’s target of 50,000 given the pressures on the workforce and the history of the City of Montreal in this chapter. Mme Plante neglects the importance of stimulating supply across the entire housing stock and not just in the social and affordable housing category.
On questions of active mobility, public transport and climate emergency, the advantage undeniably goes to Mme Plant. Even if it pisses off motorists (and especially suburbanites), its Bike Express Network is a signature project. We will not be able to encourage active mobility and slow down the share of the solo car without making gestures of this magnitude. Her leadership in the fight against climate change has been recognized among Canada’s leaders and she has played a leading role in the work of the C40 mayors to develop green and inclusive recovery plans. On the strength of her experience, she is no longer the “man of the neophyte situation” of four years ago.
Cities do not hold the full power and levers of financing when it comes to the environment, but they will be on the front lines of energy change and the decarbonization of the economy. Valérie Plante’s environmental awareness, as well as the consistency between her program, her words and her actions, reassure Montrealers of our chances of building a human and green city.
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