In the long cry that Valérie Plante had uttered during her first election, on November 5, 2017, we found the immense pride of a woman who was breaking a cycle dating back several decades.
In the one she launched again on Sunday night on the stage of the Olympia, there was the emotion of one who realizes that the confidence that Montrealers place in her is very real.
This victory, Valérie Plante did not steal it! We can undoubtedly say that the exhausting campaign which is coming to an end, she carried it at arm’s length.
Starting far behind her main opponent, Denis Coderre, according to the first surveys carried out last spring, the mayoress of Montreal has made an impressive comeback.
She climbed the ranks one by one, displaying a positive attitude from start to finish. We felt that she wanted to run this campaign and that she took enormous pleasure in leading it.
“We can run the city of Montreal with a smile,” she said during her speech.
Over the past few weeks, she has adopted a combative tone that, without being mean, highlighted the lack of clarity of some ideas of her main opponent.
Of course, the many tiles that fell on his rival worked in his favor. An election campaign is made up of many things, the best and the worst, glamor and disaster.
And the one that has just ended is an eloquent example.
But, in fact, Valérie Plante led an excellent campaign based on ideas that are in line with the work accomplished over the past four years.
Four years ago, when Montrealers elected her, they had everything to discover about the one who had taken the head of Projet Montreal by causing the surprise. But this time, they know who they are dealing with. They know her ideas, the turn she wants the city to take and the way it operates.
The results obtained on Sunday are a gesture of frank and solid confidence that will allow Valérie Plante and her team to continue the work begun.
No mayor of an important city like Montreal can really impose his vision and make the changes he wants to make in a single term. Valérie Plante now has four more years to go further.
Does that mean that this second term will be done in joy and peace of mind? I do not believe that.
Among those who voted for it, we find, of course, the early activists. Because unlike Denis Coderre, Valérie Plante was able to count on a base of fervent and loyal supporters to lead her campaign.
There are also those who were skeptical and critical, and whom she has managed to seduce in recent years. They have grown in number over the past year. It must be recognized that the mayoress ensured good management of the pandemic. She has made a lot of gains since March 2020.
But there are also those who did not want to vote for Denis Coderre and who put their X next to his name, for lack of a valid third way. These will continue to be watchdogs of its management over the next several years.
Yes, Valérie Plante has another mandate to deploy her vision of a city on a human scale, which has environmental and social objectives, but she will have to do so with a critical voice that is undoubtedly more present.
If Denis Coderre respects his recent declarations, he will remain in office this time (thanks to his running mate Chantal Rossi who should give up his post as councilor in Montreal-North) and will fulfill his role as leader of the opposition. There is no doubt that he would have more bite than Lionel Perez, who has had to take on this task for the past four years.
During her visit last Thursday in the studios of Paul Arcand, Valérie Plante concluded her umpteenth debate with Denis Coderre by saying that, if she was re-elected, she would like to work on two things: proximity to citizens and greater consultation.
I was amazed at this frankness and this introspection. Hopefully this was not empty talk and that she will adopt this way of doing things. It was terribly lacking in some decision-making.
This desire for rapprochement can only be beneficial for the spirit of adhesion that the mayoress must absolutely create if she wants to implement the many promises of her ambitious plan.
The Valérie Plante effect
A few months ago, I wondered in a column if there was not a “Valérie Plante effect” by discovering many young candidates in various town halls in Quebec. Sunday’s results leave no room for doubt. Catherine Fournier in Longueuil, France Bélisle in Gatineau, Julie Bourdon in Granby, Évelyne Beaudin in Sherbrooke and Julie Dufour in Saguenay are all inspiring examples of women shattering the glass ceiling. As for Isabelle Lessard, a 21-year-old mayor of Chapais, she is one of the most inspiring surprises of this campaign.
Where were the voters?
We absolutely have to talk about the appalling participation rate in Montreal. At the time of this writing, it was around 32%. I just can’t believe it. I understand that we are emerging from a federal election, that we are still immersed in a pandemic and that we are entering winter, but with such a hot two-man fight, this weak mobilization is a mystery. Ten years ago, we lived through the Charbonneau commission, with the promise to take charge of the ethics of cities. And here’s the result. For months, polls have told us that a large proportion of the population is undecided. Were these people undecided or did they not intend to go and vote? These things should be clarified by pollsters.