Valerie Plante began her day Monday as she usually begins it — by making her kids breakfast.
A short time later, she took on her new role as Montreal's mayor-elect — heading to Victoria Square to thank supporters for their confidence in her leadership.
She also posed for photos and shook hands.
She appeared to have plenty of energy to burn, even if it was barely 12 hours since she made history by becoming the first woman elected as Montreal mayor.
"I'm not even tired to be honest, though I didn't sleep every much," she said "It's such a big honour Montrealers decided to give me. I'll take that mandate with a lot of humility."
Later, she dropped by Montreal's City Hall, where she spoke about her transition, and her priorities.
She says she's already had discussions with provincial authorities involved in mobility and transportation — specifically about getting new buses on the road, which was one of the first things she promised she would do once she took office.
She also says she spoke with outgoing mayor Denis Coderre shortly after her victory was confirmed Sunday night.
"He offered me his total collaboration, which I do really appreciate," she said. "Over the next coming days, we'll take all the files, everything related to the collective convention with some of the workers of the City of Montreal, this is something coming up very soon, so we'll be talking about that for sure."
Plante, meantime, expressed disappointment over Sunday's turnout — Just 42 per cent of eligible Montrealers turned out to vote, which was down slightly from the 43 per cent who turned out in 2013.
"We'll have to look at the different reasons why it didn't turn out to be higher," she said. "For sure the weather didn't play for us, we know when it rains or snows, it's not ideal. But I'm satisfied I won with 51 per cent."
She also spoke about her signature election promise — her much-touted proposal for a new metro line to run from Lachine to Montreal North, by way of downtown and Rosemont. She pointed out it won't happen overnight.
"Since the beginning I've been clear with the timeline, the first mandate will be about all those technical points which are very, very important," said Plante.