Valérie Plante Becomes Montreal’s First Female Mayor in History

Montreal, while being founded in 1642, didn't elect its first mayor until 1833 when Jacques Viger took the seat. Following Viger, for the next 183 years, all of those elected were men—and as of Sunday, that's now changed with Valérie Plante's victory.

Just a few months ago, Plante, a relatively unknown personality prior to her 2016 election as opposition leader, was a weak bet for the one to take down Denis Coderre. At the kick-off of the election, Coderre, a powerful name in Quebec politics, was widely expected to win a reelection.

"Tonight, we wrote a new page in Montreal's history," Plante told her supporters at her victory speech. "Three-hundred and seventy-five years after Jeanne Mance co-founded the city, Montreal has its first woman mayor. And I'm excited to write the continuation of this history with all of you."

Montreal is now the largest North American city with a woman as mayor.

The 43-year-old Plante was first elected to Montreal city council in 2013 with another upset victory, this time over longtime political operative Louise Harel. In 2016, she took over as leader of Montreal's municipal opposition, the left-leaning Projet Montréal, by just 69 votes. During the election, Projet Montréal, and Plante, ran on a platform built on sustainable urbanism. This led the leader to promise major transit improvements to the city, bike lanes and the like—the key promise of her campaign was a new subway line that would link north Montreal to the downtown. The project is expected to run upwards of $6 billion.

Prior to her time in politics, Plante, who has a degree in anthropology and a masters in museum studies, worked for several nonprofits, including eight years with the Girls Action Foundation.

Plante's brief time in politics is one of several stark differences between her and Coderre, who was first elected to the mayoral office in 2013 after a lengthy stint in federal politics. Coderre was a six-time MP and served as the Immigration Minister in Jean Chrétien's Liberal government of the early 2000s. In his concession speech to Plante, the 54-year-old said that he's quitting politics. He served only one term as mayor, a rarity in Montreal politics.

Some viewed the election as a referendum on the polarizing Coderre due to the fact that several of his political allies also fell in the election—in a poll just prior to the election, many Montrealers indicated that Coderre's personality and his reputation for overspending were the driving factors in their desire for change. So while Coderre tended to rub people the wrong way, the charismatic Plante easily connected with Montrealers during her campaign.

This charisma was apparent during Plante's victory speech.

"We have a lot of work ahead in the next four years," Plante told her crowd. "But there's nothing I like more than a challenge."

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