Valérie Plante
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Valérie Plante (; born 14 June 1974) is a Canadian politician serving as the 45th and current
mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
of
Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
since 2017. First elected to Montreal City Council in the 2013 election, she served as leader of the Projet Montréal party since December 2016. Plante was Projet Montréal's candidate for mayor in the 2017 municipal election, and was elected
Mayor of Montreal The mayor of Montreal is head of the executive branch of the Montreal City Council. The current mayor is Valérie Plante, who was elected into office on November 5, 2017, and sworn in on November 16. The office of the mayor administers all ci ...
on 5 November 2017. She is the first woman to be elected mayor of Montreal, having been preceded only by councillor Jane Cowell-Poitras's two brief stints as acting mayor following mayoral resignations in the early 2010s and by the ceremonial appointment of
Lise Payette Lise Payette ( Ouimet; August 29, 1931 – September 5, 2018) was a Canadian politician, journalist, writer, and businesswoman. She was a Parti Québécois (PQ) minister under the leadership of Premier René Lévesque and National Assembly of ...
as mayor of the city for one day to mark the
International Women's Year International Women's Year (IWY) was the name given to 1975 by the United Nations. Since that year March 8 has been celebrated as International Women's Day, and the United Nations Decade for Women, from 1976 to 1985, was also established. History ...
in 1976.


Early life and education

Plante was born in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, on 14 June 1974. She spent a year in
North Bay, Ontario North Bay is a city in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is the seat of Nipissing District and takes its name from its position on the shore of Lake Nipissing. It developed as a railroad centre and its airport was an important military locatio ...
, as a teenager to learn English. In 1994, she moved to Montreal to attend university, receiving a degree in
anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...
in 1997, and another in
museology Museology (also called museum studies or museum science) is the study of museums. It explores the history of museums and their role in society, as well as the activities they engage in, including curating, preservation, public programming, and ed ...
in 2001, both from the
Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (; UdeM; ) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce on M ...
. She then worked for a number of non-profit organizations, most notably as communications director of the Girls Action Foundation. In the 1990s, she worked as a tour guide at Vimy Ridge in
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
.


Political career


City councillor

In the 2013 Montreal municipal election, Plante was elected councillor for the Sainte-Marie district of the Ville-Marie borough, defeating former provincial minister and 2009 Montreal mayoral candidate Louise Harel. She was named opposition critic for downtown, tourism, and for women's affairs. She was also named vice-president of city council, as well as substitute mayor for Ville-Marie. In the fall of 2016, Plante announced her run for the leadership of Projet Montréal. She went on to win the leadership election with 51.9%, defeating Guillaume Lavoie.


2017 mayoral campaign

Valérie Plante was elected
mayor of Montreal The mayor of Montreal is head of the executive branch of the Montreal City Council. The current mayor is Valérie Plante, who was elected into office on November 5, 2017, and sworn in on November 16. The office of the mayor administers all ci ...
on 5 November 2017, becoming the first woman to lead the city in its 375-year history. Few had predicted that Plante would be able to take down the incumbent mayor, Denis Coderre, a former federal Liberal MP and cabinet minister, at the beginning of the campaign. Plante won over voters on a promise to improve public transit, alleviate traffic woes and make the city more family friendly. On election day, Plante won 51 percent of the vote, compared to 46 percent for Coderre. Projet Montréal also won a majority of seats on the
city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...
. One of Plante's key campaign planks in the 2017 municipal election was the creation of a " Pink line", a new
Montreal Metro The Montreal Metro (, ) is a rubber-tired underground rapid transit system serving Greater Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The metro, operated by the Société de transport de Montréal (STM), was inaugurated on October 14, 1966, during the tenure ...
line to improve public transit service between downtown and on two axes to the boroughs of Montréal-Nord and Lachine. Plante claimed that her campaign posters were strategically placed in certain areas where she knew her ideas would easily be spread.


2021 mayoral campaign

Plante decisively won the 7 November 2021 against Coderre by a wider margin, taking 52 percent of the vote to his 37 percent. The majority of Projet Montréal on city council was also increased. Plante campaigned on adding 60,000 social housing units and continuing to focus on improving urban life. On 23 October 2024, Plante announced that she will not seek a third term in the next election scheduled on 2 November 2025. She will continue as mayor until the end of her mandate.


Personal life

Plante has two children. She is married to Pierre-Antoine Harvey, an economist with the Centrale des syndicats du Québec.


References


External links


Valérie Plante, Mayor of Montréal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Plante, Valérie 21st-century mayors of places in Quebec Mayors of Montreal Living people Ville-Marie, Montreal 1974 births 21st-century Canadian women politicians Women mayors of places in Quebec Female Canadian political party leaders People from Rouyn-Noranda Université de Montréal alumni First women mayors