Much has been said about the “new” Denis Coderre. But strangely, no one broaches the question of the “new” Valérie Plante.
Because, it must be said, no prominent politician can emerge from a four-year term without having been highly transformed.
From the one who was looking for her bearings by settling in the mayor’s chair in November 2017, not much remains. Valérie Plante is today a mayor who shows great confidence and has a good knowledge of her files. This is one of its strengths.
While she can be evasive in certain aspects during press briefings, she never gives the impression of being caught off guard. One thing is certain, when she does not have all the keys to a file, she does not try to throw unnecessary dust in the eyes.
The Plante administration (me first) has been criticized for conducting bogus consultations to achieve its ends. Remember the polls that were conducted on the web with questions that left little room for nuance.
The mayor has learned that it is not necessary to indulge in this game with the citizens.
Likewise, she understood that it was sometimes necessary to bring to order certain elected members of her party who wanted to be kinglets in their district. She had to pay the price, that of being accused of centralizing decisions and powers around her.
It suffered criticism from some elected officials and faced a crisis marked by the departure of some of them (Christine Gosselin, Christian Arsenault).
Projet Montréal has in its ranks several strong heads who arrived with the intention of changing things and doing it quickly. Valérie Plante saw clearly that many citizens were not ready for this “revolution”. She must have moderated the ardor of those in a hurry.
Valérie Plante was elected on the basis of 474 promises. These revolved primarily around improving mobility, boosting the economy, protecting cyclists and pedestrians, and retaining families.
Her first decisions reinforced those who voted for her: the abolition of the horse-drawn carriages in Old Montreal, the cancellation of the Formula E contract and the taking over of the redevelopment of rue Sainte-Catherine.
Then came winter. And the snow. And ice cream.
Three months after Valérie Plante came to power, Press released an Ipsos poll that showed the honeymoon was already over. The majority of respondents (59%) said they were dissatisfied with its management.
The tax hike imposed in its first budget (when it had promised that it would not exceed inflation) and the quality of snow removal are damaging its image.
Valérie Plante suddenly discovered that seducing citizens was one thing, but living up to their expectations, even the most basic, was another.
The mayoress had to learn to take care of her relations with Montreal inc. who turned his back on him when he arrived. She also found that the Montreal Police Brotherhood had the murderous and prompt response.
The only thing it has changed little is its way of driving Ottawa and Quebec to the wall to justify the delay in certain files, such as social housing. Denis Coderre constantly criticizes him, moreover.
Valérie Plante has not changed her way of addressing journalists and citizens. She hasn’t changed her look. She has the same tone, the same laughter, the same way of starting her sentences with “I want to tell you”. But she has learned to become a real politician.
Do not see this as a negative judgment. To be a politician is to know how to put water in your wine, it is to be able to listen to the citizens whom one would do well without, it is to learn to work with an opposition that is sometimes just, sometimes revenge.
There were exclusions within his party, harsh criticism from the opposition and the press. Faced with these storms, Valérie Plante could have turned a deaf ear and tried to impose her ideology. She could also have hunkered down, diversified and totally lost her DNA.
She preferred to navigate and move forward, which makes many Montrealers say today: “She’s not perfect, she makes decisions that I don’t approve of, but I think I’m going to vote for her anyway. ”
I’ve been hearing that a lot for the past few weeks.
If Valérie Plante is re-elected, she will however have to deal with a stronger and more critical opposition than that of the last four years. I remain convinced of that.
His next term, if there is one, will not be a long smooth ride.
I am referring to the wing of his party located further to the left, as much among its elected officials as among its shadow activists.
If the leaders of Projet Montreal enjoy a support that borders on reverence on the part of its activists, the fact remains that many of them think that the party has lost its bite, especially in its way of attacking glaring problems of social housing, homelessness and the fight against climate change.
These voices, I have been hearing them for a few months. They agree with the words of Jonathan Durand Folco, assistant professor at the School of Social Innovation at Saint Paul University, who wants a “critical voice to accompany Projet Montréal”.
“Projet Montréal has an ecological, inclusion and social justice orientation. But it is a party that could go much further. He tended to govern in the center to find compromises and to spare various forces, ”he told me.
Jonathan Durand Folco is one of the supporters of Projet Montréal who, like the former mayor of Plateau-Mont-Royal, Luc Ferrandez, believes that Projet Montréal is not doing enough in terms of the environment.
Many of us considered Projet Montréal to be the most left-wing party that Montreal has known, but now movements and networks (like Vague écologiste au municipal) are showing us that it is not quite the right thing to do. case.
Will Valérie Plante, in the event of a re-election, continue to meet the expectations of these activists, while satisfying the rest of Montrealers?
Only the “new” Valérie Plante knows it.
CCMM debate
The debate organized by the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal (CCMM) was civilized, but offered some crisp moments.
The most full-bodied passage: Valérie Plante who replies to Denis Coderre about a “communication problem” that he mentions to explain the failure of the Formula E race. The mayoress bluntly reminded him of the report of the Bureau of inspector general who reported political interference.
The most colorful passage: Denis Coderre who talks about the Mobility Squad set up by the Plante administration. “Yes, we have a mobility squad, but it’s stuck in traffic. ”
The most astonishing passage: The two candidates who are unable to quantify their promises.
Where was Denis Coderre?
For the past few days, Denis Coderre has liked to repeat that the Plante administration “was not there for three and a half years” and that it is waking up “a few months” before the elections. He made these remarks when he spoke about the plight of downtown merchants and repeated them Monday evening during the CCMM debate.
These words are astonishing from the one who has refused to occupy the post of Leader of the Opposition (he could have taken the seat of his running mate Chantal Rossi) for the past four years.