Valerie Plante elected leader of Projet Montreal

Meet Valerie Plante: Projet Montreal's new leader Valerie Plante will run for mayor of Montreal under the Projet Montreal banner

Valerie Plante will lead Projet Montreal against Mayor Denis Coderre in the 2017 municipal election.

Plante defeated her colleague Guillaume Lavoie with 51.9 per cent of the votes counted on Sunday afternoon. She garnered 998 votes versus Lavoie's 919.

Lavoie succeeds Luc Ferrandez, who served as interim leader following the resignation of Projet Montreal's founder Richard Bergeron two years ago.

Bergeron left to sit as an independent but announced in November he plans to run as part of Coderre's team next year.

Plant said her top priority at city hall will be fighting inequality.

"I've been talking about the inequalities between Montrealers and the gaps between neighbourhoods, between boroughs. And it's something Denis Coderre doesn't do. He doesn't speak about these things. I want to bring back those issues and housing is a major one," said Plante.

Going into the vote, both Plante and Lavoie said their main goal was the defeat of Coderre in the upcoming election.

Plante had served as Projet Montreal's spokesperson for downtown, tourism and women's files. She holds a bachelor's degree in anthropology and a master's degree in museology. She has also worked with several community organizations.

She also laid out plans for a new metro line that would link the Bonaventure station to the Montreal North borough to relieve congestion on the orange line.

Ferrandez is convinced she is just what Projet Montreal needs.

"She is a fighter, she is a warrior, and tonight she proves it. And she also proved she has the content, that she has a vision, that she has the strength that we all need for Montreal," said the Plateau-Mont Royal borough mayor..

Plante now has 11 months before the next election in order to convince Montrealers to choose her as Montreal's first female mayor.