Mayor Plante on hijab controversy, decision to not run again in 2025 [Video]

Valerie Plante announced last week that she will not be seeking re-election in 2025 after serving as Montreal’s first female mayor since 2017.

On Thursday, she spoke to CTV News Montreal anchor Caroline Van Vlaardingen about her shocking decision, what’s next for her and about a recent controversial decision to remove a poster at City Hall because it depicted a woman in a hijab.

Watch the video above for the full interview.

The article below has been edited for clarity and length.

CTV: There is a lot of talk today about the decision that you made about the poster at City Hall. As you know, some people are very unhappy with that. Although you say there was discomfort, people are saying it’s a xenophobic move that these women, if they’re not working in public places, they’re ordinary Montrealers like the rest of us. Why remove them?

PLANTE: I don’t want Montrealers to think that, you know, Montreal is not this amazing, inclusive city, that everybody’s welcome to, especially at City Hall. So …