Plante to have TV show
This fall, Valérie Plante will be on her own TV show, Ça brasse en ville, in which she visits cities around the world and investigates how they manage their affairs. It’s not to be a glitzy cultural program, but an attempt to find out how other cities manage the nuts and bolts of urban concerns.
Nicholas 16:35 on 2026-03-26 Permalink
Living her best life, and I’m happy for her.
James 16:45 on 2026-03-26 Permalink
Good for her! Everyone would need a break after 8 years of being constantly criticized.
Ian 17:58 on 2026-03-26 Permalink
I’m sure she’s doing fine, she got $95,984.40 in severance and $214,028.92 in a transition allowance after leaving office. I’d be living my best life too.
Tim S. 19:27 on 2026-03-26 Permalink
Politics is a job (often) with very little job security. Qualified people are often reluctant to run for office because it would disrupt the happy stable existence they have to begin with, and so the people who can run are those who are part of networks that will welcome them back after they’re finally defeated. If we.want candidates from outside those networks, then yeah we have to be willing to pay for it.
Ian 20:01 on 2026-03-26 Permalink
Just saying, 300k golden handshake would go a long way to making up for whatever suffering her fans think she may have nedured. I find it difficult to see how it is a necessary condition of being mayor that they need a thrid of a million bucks on quitting to make anyone want the job but I guess her life is super hard lol
thomas 19:24 on 2026-03-27 Permalink
We’re told these payouts are needed to lure top-tier outsiders into politics. Strange, then, that Montreal’s serious mayoral candidates keep being political lifers, not people lured away from flourishing careers elsewhere. If that was the objective, the program seems to have failed.
Kate 21:05 on 2026-03-27 Permalink
Maybe it’s fair because you’ve put all your other ventures on hold for a minimum of four years – eight in Plante’s case, for example – what else are you going to do when you stop doing the political job? Sure, people can write books, join the commentariat, teach at a university, but as an ex‑pol you’re always going to have the baggage of who you used to be. And maybe the money partly acknowledges the emotional stresses the job put you through, so if you need to, you can simply take some time off.