Plante, Coderre lock arms to honour the fallen

After weeks of campaigning against each other in the race for Montreal mayor, Denis Coderre and Valérie Plante locked arms Saturday to honour the memory of Canada’s fallen soldiers.

The former rivals laid a wreath at Place du Canada while the Black Watch pipe and drum band played on in the biting November cold. Coderre appeared sullen in one of his last public outings as mayor.

For Plante, who was elected last Sunday, the ceremony was a chance to absorb the weight of her new office.

“It’s a great honour to be here today,” Plante said. “As the name suggests, Remembrance Day is a time to remember our men and women who gave their lives to protect our country, our homeland.”

The mayor-elect has an appreciation for the history of the First World War in particular given that she was once a tour guide at the Vimy Ridge battle site in France. On Saturday, she met with veterans, young soldiers and the mother of a young man who died in Afghanistan.

“I’m proud that this is one of my first public appearances and I was happy to be alongside Denis Coderre to lay a wreath in honour of those who wore the uniform for Canada,” she said. “I remember, at Vimy Ridge, the families of veterans who would visit us and they’d be quite emotional when we led them on tours of the trenches.”

On Sunday, the incoming and outgoing mayors of Côte-des-Neiges–NotreDame-de-Grâce borough showed a similar united front as Sue Montgomery and Russell Copeman laid a wreath at Place de Vimy in N.D.G. Park.