Marie Plourde

Having a child makes us see the city differently, even with an urban planner's training: this is one conclusion that Marie Plourde came to while walking with her daughter on the Plateau. When she noticed that certain playgrounds needed to be revitalized or that safety needed to be improved on certain arteries, this well-known communicator and citizen, long involved in her community, decided to act. Marie ran for and was elected borough councillor in the Mile End district in 2013

Marie's priority, once in office, was to promote and protect local heritage buildings. As Chair of the Plateau's Urban Planning Advisory Committee, she implemented a regulatory change that made urban planning more user-friendly and accessible to all. Marie helped protect the center for creation of the Rideau-Vert theater, which was threatened with demolition. This historic building on Gilford Street was finally rebuilt in keeping with its century-old architecture. Marie is also working to improve relations between merchants and elected officials so as to ensure more transparent and mutually satisfactory decision-making processes.

Politics is a planet unto itself, with its own language, and Marie finds herself in a constant learning situation. She listens to the citizens of Mile End and frequently ""patrols"" her district to see the evolution of community initiatives. Versatile, Marie is also at ease in the more reflective parts of her work in order to find innovative solutions. She did not enter politics to be in the forefront or to capitalize on her media notoriety, but she has lost none of the teasing and that irreverent side for which she is famous: the sincerity of the host lives on within the politician, whether it is when she chairs the commission on transportation and public works or when she sits on the board of directors of the STM.

The project of which Marie is most proud and which is taking shape a little more each year is the development of the Mile End rail line. This territory, where an industrial site rubs shoulders with a residential area, offers endless possibilities and space to develop a public place that will preserve the identity that has forged the neighbourhood. Consultations had to be postponed due to the pandemic but Marie knows that people are eager to be involved and see the area transformed to reflect their needs.

Marie is also fighting to maintain the historical social mix of the Plateau, by countering renovictions and the reduction of the rental stock - due to the massive arrival of Airbnb among others reasons. For Marie, all levels of government must work together in an effort to take care of the Plateau's most vulnerable residents. She wants for them to be able to live in peace, in the Mile End that they have helped build. Marie Plourde believes that they too are a living part of our heritage.