![The Bulletin: Who's the mother of Montreal? [Issue #24]](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fthemain.ghost.io%2Fcontent%2Fimages%2F2023%2F05%2F4701375605_05af48d2e1_k.jpg&w=3840&q=75)
A view of Hôtel-Dieu from Mount Royal, 1869. (Archives du Musée McCord)Mother's Day is approaching this Sunday, which has got us wondering: Who's the mother of Montreal?
Maybe Valérie Plante? She's a mom with those, you know, mom vibes, and she's definitely leading a rebirth of the city—warts and all—in its environmentally-forward urban planning and progressive approach to citizenry.
There are a lot of women who helped put this city on the map: Musician and teacher Daisy Peterson Sweeney. Astronaut and engineer Julie Payette. Drag legend Mado Lamotte. Feminist advocate and activist Henrietta Muir Edwards. Nursing pioneer Nora Livingston. Business woman and inventor Agathe de Saint-Père. Journalist Joséphine Marchand. Artist and aboriginal rights' activist Ellen Gabriel. Organzier Berthe Chaurès-Louard.
Some would say Céline, even if she was born in Charlemagne, QC.
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