Plante's terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year

If 2020 was difficult for just about everyone, it was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year for Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante — though it may have been difficult to tell, given her sunny disposition.

That's what it was in large part because of the coronavirus pandemic, which landed in her lap with a thud in March. Montreal found itself at the epicentre of the contagion in Canada, which monopolized the third year of Plante's mandate and derailed much of her agenda.

But there were other missteps in 2020 that had nothing to do with COVID-19.

Plante's year began and ended with a comeuppance. She ejected Côte-des-neiges — Notre-damede- Grâce Borough Mayor Sue Montgomery from her caucus, ostensibly over her refusal to take responsibility for a hostile work environment.

But rather than go quietly, Montgomery raised a ruckus. She accused Plante of ordering her to fire her chief of staff, Annalisa Harris, on the basis of a confidential comptroller general's report that found she had been harassing employees. The probe was launched after Harris complained of condescending treatment by borough director Stéphane Plante. But the tables were somehow turned.

Montgomery labelled Plante a hypocrite for wanting her to throw a bright young woman under the bus to protect the old boy's club.

While Plante tried to argue her hands were tied by the Comptroller's report, her expediency caught up with her in December. The court ruled in Montgomery's favour, finding the process to dump Harris had been unreasonable — even if both sides contributed to the conflict. Plante was left with egg on her face.

A loss of faith — and allies — was a recurring theme for Plante in 2020.

Lachine councillor Julie-pascale Provost was booted from the party over siding with boat enthusiasts opposed to the creation of a waterfront park at their marina. Provost may not have been toeing the party line on the importance of city-owned land being used for the public good instead of rented to an exclusive club, but her ejection nevertheless signalled little room for dissent or different opinions within the ranks.

There was anonymous moaning and groaning about new Projet Montréal nomination procedures designed to vet even senior incumbents and make room for a more diverse slate of candidates in 2021.

Rosannie Filato, a bright young member of Plante's executive committee and a councillor in Villeray, unexpectedly threw in the towel on politics. Withdrawing from the public security file and announcing she won't run again after serving just three-quarters of a term, Filato supposedly made her decision for personal reasons. But the fact she was such a trusted member of Plante's inner circle still feels like a stinging rebuke.

Christian Arsenault, a councillor in N.D.G., jumped ship over the city budget shortchanging Montreal's most populous borough. Plante tried to spin his departure as an opportunity to renew her local Projet Montréal team after the Montgomery debacle. It may be more a case of him bailing before the good ship Projet goes down in N.D.G.

Last week, Christine Gosselin, a veteran Projet councillor from Rosemont-la-petite-patrie called it quits. She blasted Plante on her way out for “regressive and authoritarian management,” citing the standoff with Montgomery as an example. Friendly fire can hurt the most.

Poll after poll showed ebbing of support for Plante citywide — even among her base. As she has tried to broaden her administration's appeal, she has lost some of the true believers.

She faced a pile-on from many media commentators who argued the mayor was out of touch with the public.

She was raked over the coals for co-publishing a graphic novel based on her experiences as a woman in politics. Even if she had worked on it beforehand, it was seen as bad timing to release it during a pandemic.

Plante faced a backlash over her bid to help ailing downtown by calling on Montrealers to come, shop and eat there over the summer. She ended up postponing a third of the city's major construction projects as an olive branch.

In an interview to mark three years in office as Montreal's first female mayor in November, Plante seemed bothered and bewildered by all the negativity. But she was also determined to get her agenda back on track. This included passing a bylaw to create more social and affordable housing and presenting an ambitious climate plan in the home stretch of 2020.

Will returning to her policy priorities help Plante rebound in 2021? Montrealers will find out in November.