The First Woman Mayor in Montreal! Three Greek-Canadians With the Opposition

A Woman Mayor in Montreal! Three Greek-Canadians With the Opposition!

Valerie Plante, the first female elected to the head of the City of Montreal, wrote a story with her convincing victory against her strong opponent and predecessor, Denis Coderre, an experienced politician and close friend of the Greek community.

Plante triumphed as a result of the voters' direct response to the persona of Denis Coderre who had held office since 2013. It appears that Mayor Coderre had became disliked by the electorate for many reasons:

1) because of the belief that he wasted public money on the 375th anniversary celebrations of the municipality, making judgmental errors such as the millions spent on lighting for the Jacques Cartier bridge and the electric car rally or “e-race;”

2) because he was deemed to be "arrogant" given his highly centralized administration and his “distant relation” with the media;

3) because of the impression that he often decided upon the use of taxpayer's money without much consultation with his team;

4) for four years of much-needed infrastructure projects that made getting around the city very difficult and caused indignation to its commuters;

5) as a result of the poorly implemented and/or communicated rules and regulations targeted towards dog owners.

Undoubtedly, the extraordinary celebrations of the although 375th anniversary of Montreal, although spectacular, have led to misplaced investments when it comes to maximizing the tourist identity of the city.

However, it should not be forgotten that 90% of said spending went towards infrastructure projects. It must also be pointed out that all contracts were awarded with absolute transparency and competitions and no one can accuse the Mayor of any misconduct. On the contrary, even his enemies admit that he was able to shake off the stigma of "corruption" that blanketed the city prior to his arrival at its helm.

Denis Coderre was instrumental in having Montreal proclaimed the “Metropolis of Quebec” as a result of Act 121 which was unanimously passed by the Québec legislature and awards the city more autonomy. The municipality now acquires powers that were in the hands of provincial ministries, mainly in terms of low income housing, the fight against homelessness and the integration of its migrants.

Coderre, the French-Canadian, or “Kebekiotis,” also gave importance to the ethnic communities of his city and promised to build a “Diversity Museum” with their co-operatiion at the Old Port. At the same time, with the emergence of the city as a tourist and investment destination, unemployment fell to an all-time low of 6.1%.

The newly elected Mayor, Valerie Plante, with her fresh but somewhat naive presence, has promised some very costly projects of her own such as a new line for Montreal’s subway system.

In addition to her lack of experience, she has not yet reached out to the national communities, although she did promise to do so. Perhaps the adoption of the idea of the Diversity Museum could be a step in this direction.

Three Greek-Canadians at City Hall!

An emphasis must be given to the victory of the Greeks of Montreal as all three candidates of Hellenic origin were triumphant.

Long-time municipal councillor, Mary Deros, who ran for a 6th term, earned 50% of her riding’s votes even though her party’s showing was negatively impacted by the publicity dogging Mayor Coderre.

Dimitrios (Jim) Beis, the Mayor of Pierrefonds, was re-elected with 46% of the votes cast. An avid cyclist and athlete who does not hesitate to cycle to town hall meetings during the summer, Beis has shown that he is a popular, ecologically-oriented leader.

The new, youthful municipal councillor, Efi Giannou-Karmiris, elected in Bordeaux-Carterville with a resounding 60%, has a great political future at City Hall..