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During an uncharacteristically flat mayoralty campaign last year, one of the few effective criticisms hurled by former mayor Denis Coderre at his opponents was that a Projet Montréal government would bring about the “Plateau-ization” of the city.

Three months into the Valérie Plante administration, there seems to be some fear that the Plateau-ization has commenced.

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Before 2017, Coderre was a masterful campaigner, connecting with his constituents at an almost visceral level. For many Montrealers, nothing causes greater visceral discomfort than the idea of wasting more of their lives in traffic — and Montreal’s traffic is so bad it was ranked the worst in Canada in 2017, according to transport analytics firm Inrix.

There were a number of reasons why Projet managed to stun Quebec’s political class, winning both the mayoralty and council in November. Among them were: exhaustion with an unpopular mayor following costly 375th anniversary celebrations, support from a ferocious animal rights lobby, and a creative campaign deftly prioritizing moderate policies.