Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante will not seek re-election in the 2025 municipal elections, calling it a “heartbreaking decision” to walk away from a job she loves.
The first woman elected to the city’s top job spoke about her election Wednesday, saying she didn’t think she would have the same amount of energy to serve a third term.
“It was a decision that was not easy to make,” Plante said during a news conference. “It was heartbreaking because I love my job.”
Plante described how she recently realized she couldn’t commit to another four years as mayor, but promised to continue working for Montrealers “day in and day out” until the end of her current term.
The mayor also said that she is feeling well and that she will leave office next year with her head held high.
“Next year I’m not going to slow down, it will be quite the opposite. Just look at me,” Plante said.
The 50-year-old politician, originally from Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, first entered the municipal scene when she was elected to Montreal’s municipal council in 2013. She moved to the city at age 19, where she earned university degrees in anthropology and museology.
Plante was first elected mayor in 2017, beating then-mayor and former Liberal cabinet minister Denis Coderre. In 2021 he won a second term.
Valérie Plante speaks to her supporters after being elected mayor of Montreal, November 5, 2017.
The Canadian Press/Graham Hughes
In addition to being mayor of Montreal, Plante is also mayor of the downtown district of Ville-Marie and has been leader of Projet Montréal since December 2016. A leadership race will begin in the coming months, she said.
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During her speech, Plante said that her “world for the last 30 years has been Montreal” and that it was the residents who gave her the courage to make “difficult but necessary” decisions to make the city greener, safer and more resilient to the environment. climate change. .
Plante and his party are recognized for transforming major arteries to make them more welcoming to cyclists, as well as closing streets to automobile traffic to create vibrant, pedestrian-friendly and bicycle-friendly zones in several districts.
“Our movement is not an accident: our ideas or projects reflect the will of the vast majority of Montrealers and are causing a sensation in other parts of Quebec,” said Plante.
Reaction quickly came from Plante’s political counterparts at different levels, with Quebec Premier François Legault thanking him for his two terms in office. The two have often clashed over different issues, including funding public transportation and increasing provincial tuition for out-of-province students.
“His love for his city has been evident throughout his political commitment,” Legault said on social media. “I wish him the best of luck for the future.”
Quebec City Mayor Bruno Marchand described Plante’s commitment as “sincere” and added that it was a privilege to work alongside her.
“She has initiated great changes and made all of Quebec shine,” Marchand wrote in X. “Every time our cities shine, our entire nation shines too.”
Aref Salem, leader of Montreal’s Joint Opposition officer, thanked Plante and said his party was ready for the upcoming November 2025 elections.
“I thank Valérie Plante for her commitment to the metropolis since her election, despite our numerous disagreements over construction management, homelessness, public safety and the state of citizen services,” Salem said in a release.
– with files from The Canadian Press
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