New Valerie Plant

Much has been said about the “new” Denise Coderre. But strangely, no one overcame the question of the “new” Valerie plant.

Released on October 20, 2021 at 6:00 p.m.

This is because no major politician can emerge without much change from the four-year period.

From the man who settled in the mayor’s chair in November 2017 and was looking for his bearings, there was not much left. Valerie Blande is a mayor today, she is very confident and well aware of her files. This is one of its strengths.

Although she could escape in some respects during the press conference, she did not always give the impression of being trapped in security. One thing is for sure, when she did not have all the keys to a file, she did not try to throw unnecessary dust in her eyes.

The Blondie administration (I first) was criticized for conducting bogus consultations to achieve its results. Remember the polls conducted on the internet with nonsensical questions.

The mayor learned that it is not necessary to engage in this sport with citizens.

Similarly, she understood that it was necessary to regulate certain elected members of her party who sometimes wanted to be kings in their district. She had to pay the price for being accused of centralizing decisions and powers around herself.

It faced criticism from a select few officials and some of them (Christine Kozlin, Christian Arsenal) faced crisis by leaving.

Project Montreal has many strong leaders in its lineup who came to change things and get things done faster. Valerie Plant clearly saw that many citizens were not ready for this “revolution.” She must have moderated the interest of those in a hurry.

Valerie Plant was elected on the basis of 474 promises. These mainly revolved around improving mobility, improving the economy, protecting cyclists and pedestrians, and sustaining families.

Her first results confirmed those who voted for her: the abolition of horse-drawn carriages in the Old Montreal, the cancellation of the Formula E deal, and the adoption of the Rue Saint-Catherine redesign.

Then came winter. And snow. And ice cream.

Three months after Valerie Plant came to power, Press Ipsos has released a poll showing that the honeymoon is already over. Most of the respondents (59%) said they were not satisfied with its management.

The tax hike imposed during its first budget (when it promised not to exceed inflation) and the quality of snow removal will damage its image.

Valerie Plant suddenly finds it one thing to seduce citizens, but to live up to their expectations, even the most basic, is different.

The mayor had to learn to take care of his relationship with Montreal Inc. Who showed him his back when he arrived. She also found that the Montreal Police Brotherhood had a murderous and immediate response.

It just changed the way Ottawa and Quebec drove over the wall to justify the delay of some files like community houses. Denise Godrej continues to criticize him.

Valerie Plant has not changed the way she addresses journalists and citizens. She did not change her appearance. She has the same tone, the same laughter, and the same way she starts her sentences with “I want to tell you”. But she has learned to become a real politician.

Do not see this as a negative judgment. A politician is someone who knows how to pour water on your wine so you can listen to citizens who do well without it, and learn to work with an opposition that is sometimes fair, sometimes vengeful.

There were exceptions within his party, with harsh criticism from the opposition and the press. In the face of these storms, Valerie Plant may have become deaf and tried to impose her ideology. She may have been ambushed, diversified, and completely lost her DNA.

She wanted to go and move on, which tells many Montrealists today: “She’s not right, she makes decisions I don’t agree with, but I think I’m going to vote for her anyway. ”

I’ve been asking a lot over the last few weeks.

If Valerie Plant is re-elected, she will have to deal with stronger and more critical opposition than she has in the past four years. I firmly believe it.

If his next term is one, there will not be a long smooth journey.

I refer to the faction of his party on the left, its shadow activists among its elected officials.

While the leaders of Project Montreal enjoy a respectable patronage over its activists, many of them feel that the party has lost its bite, especially on the way to attacking social housing, homelessness and overt issues. The struggle against climate change.

These voices, I have been hearing for months. They agree with the words of Jonathan Durand Folko, an assistant professor at the School of Social Innovation at Saint-Paul University, who wants “an important voice with Project Montreal.”

“Project Montreal has an environmental, content and social justice orientation. But it is a very progressive party. He ruled at the center to find compromises and avoid various forces,” he told me.

One of the supporters of Jonathan Durand Folko Project Montreal, like Luke Fernandez, the former mayor of the Plateau-Mont-Royal, believes that the project is not adequate in terms of the Montreal environment.

Many of us considered Project Montreal to be the most left-wing party known to Montreal, but now movements and networks (such as the Vecocologiste au Corporation) are showing us that this is not the right thing to do.

While satisfying the rest of the Montrealists, will Valerie Plante continue to live up to the expectations of these activists if a re-election occurs?

Only the “new” Valerie Blondie knew it.

CCMM discussion

The discussion organized by the Metropolitan Montreal (CCMM) Chamber of Commerce was polite, but provided some crisp moments.

The most complete body part: Valerie Blonde responds to Denise Godrej to explain the failure of Formula E racing, she mentions the failure of Formula E racing. Interruption.

Very colorful passage: Denise Coder talks about the Mobility Squad set up by the Plant Management. “Yeah, we have a mobile team, but it’s stuck in traffic.”

The most surprising passage: Two candidates failed to measure their promises.

Where was Denise Coder?

Over the past few days, Denise Coder has repeatedly said that the Blonde administration is “not three and a half years old” and wakes up a few “months” before the election. He made the remarks when he spoke about the plight of downtown merchants on Monday evening during the CCMM debate.

These words come as a surprise to anyone who has refused to accept the post of opposition leader for the past four years (he may have taken the seat of his deputy, Chandel Rosie).