Valrie Plante steers clear of 'tricky' 1995 referendum question

Montreal mayoral candidate ValriePlanteisn't saying which way she voted in Quebec's 1995 sovereignty referendum.

"Listen, if I would have liked to put those issues forward, I think I would have been at the provincial or federal level," Valrie Plante, leaderofopposition Projet Montral, said in an interview on CBC Montreal's Daybreak.

I'm really open to work with everybody, whatever language, wherever they come from.- Projet Montralmayoral candidate Valrie Plante

Plante, 43, toldDaybreakhost Mike Finnerty thatalthough she doesn't identify as a separatist, she believes in the importance of "auto-determination" as a democratic right.

• Separation Anxiety: The 1995 Quebec Referendum

Her opponent, incumbent MayorDenis Coderre, is a former federal Liberal cabinet minister and an avowed federalist.

Coderre, however,has admitted in the past that he would have voted for separation in the 1980 referendum (he was only 17 at the time). A number of sovereigntistsare either running for his party or are part of his campaign team.

When asked onDaybreakwhy she refrained from responding, Plante said it was a "tricky question" on an all-round sensitive topic.

"I'm so proud to speak French and English," she said. "I'm really open to work with everybody, whatever language, wherever they come from."

For Plante, the fact that Montreal isa French city is an asset but she said she still believes it's important to be consciousof the city's anglophone population.

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• 1-on-1 withProjetMontral'sValriePlante

"We should be able to get some services in the language that we need," she said.

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