Montreal mayor not seeking third mandate: What comes next?

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante announced she will not be running in the next municipal election, citing a waning level of energy at the prospect of another four years in office.

CityNews spoke to political analyst Karim Boulos about what it all means for Montreal.

What do you make of the decision and are you surprised at all?

Well, I am surprised because in a recent poll she actually had a surprisingly favorable rating — 25% of respondents would like to see her become mayor again. Which is quite rare after two mandates. I think she had a popularity base that was very supportive. At the same time, it’s very astute, politically savvy to leave on a high. Nobody wants to be defeated. She’s won three elections — one as a councillor, two as mayor. She’s outgoing with her base thinking that she walks on water. She’s put in new measures for specifically environmental action, roads and bike paths and attacking global warming issues that are more a concern to the youth. So she’s definitely divisive. She’s definitely not everybody’s cup of tea. But for her base, I think they’re really going to miss her.

Are two mandates enough though? Should we expect change around every eight years?

I think it’s healthy because at some time there becomes a certain level of comfort and complacency on the part of a certain administration where we see similar projects with no new ideas coming about. And on the voter side, there’s just fatigue that sets in. She won one election and then she had COVID to deal with. And so people thought, well, she didn’t really have a chance to do much. So let’s give her a second shot. The third time is going to be tough. You know, and the last thing she really wants, both for herself, for her ego and also for her future earning potential is to lose an election. And so going out on a high gives her the best chance for her next endeavor, whatever that happens to be.

What do you think then is next for Projet Montréal?

I think she’s going to be very hard to replace because she took centre stage so well. Arguably Mr. (Luc) Ferrandez, before he left, was the most visible member of Projet Montréal and before that Mr. (Richard) Bergeron. Mr. (Luc) Rabouin is currently in charge of the executive committee, but I don’t think he has the same staying power that Mr. Ferrandez had or Mme. Plante. So I think they’re going to have to have a wide search, and the next leader of Projet Montréal might not be in politics right now.

What can we expect then for Plante’s final year in her mandate?

I think she’s going to go out with a bang. She wants to ensure that her new master plan and mobility for urban planning strategies, ensuring environmental new issues are being addressed. Finishing the projects she promised. She talks about a lot of social housing. They’re going to want to finance and fund new social housing upstarts. So I think she wants to go out and to be remembered as somebody who has a checklist of things that she accomplished. So I think we’re going to see an uptick and with no election in a year, she has all her time to commit to on the ground talking to people and putting projects forward that will be stamped Valérie Plante.

Overall, what kind of day is this for Montrealers?

I think it’ll be very mixed. Some people will be very happy because on the economic side, people criticized her position on bringing in new business, her attitude towards urban development and not allowing more height and density and so on. And the economic situation downtown right now is dire with commercial storefronts at an all-time low. So I think those people will see it as a chance for a wind of change. Her popularity with her base will mean that those people will find it very hard to imagine the city without someone as progressive as they found her to be.