After a big victory, Valrie Plante returns as Montreal mayor with even bigger challenges ahead

Valrie 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 newMetro line, a heightened focus on the environmentand 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 demonstrateda more seasoned approach to politics.

Under the banner of Projet Montral, 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 citestheproposed Pink Metro line, but after failing to secure funding from the provincial and federal government during her last mandate, she barelymentioned it during the campaign.

The party's strongest support remains where it started, in the city's densely populated, trendy Plateau-Mont-Royalborough, where residents welcomed cycling-friendly planningand 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 agoenvied for its low cost of living, Plantealso pledged to create 60,000 affordable housing units by 2030 and bring in new measures to prevent landlords from illegally hiking the rentor 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 pointsmore 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 citywas bailed outin 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.

Housing toppriority

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."

She also cited the growing problem of homelessness and the need to improvepublic transit. But she stressed her plan for the city is costed, and within reach.

"It will be big picture but also detail-oriented," she said. "It's very important for me to play both sides."

WATCH|Valrie Plante on her priorites for her second term:

Valrie Plante celebrates re-election in Montreal

3 years ago

Duration 3:35

Earlier, celebrating with her party at Montreal's Olympia Theatre, Plante spoke about how the past year-and-a-half was dominated by COVID-19.

Everything changed with a "snap of your fingers" in March 2020, she told the crowd.

Then she spoke about the opportunity now ahead, with four more years in power and the pandemic waning.

The city, she said, has the opportunity to be a leader on climate change in Canada and beyond.

While nearly half of her first term was defined by the darkness of the pandemic, Plante, the first woman elected as mayor of Montreal, said she sees the next four years as decisivefor the city.

"Montrealers confirmed 2017 was not a fluke, but the beginning of an era," she said, "and that you can lead the city of Montreal with a smile."