Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante only Canadian named to global COVID-19 task force

Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante has been named to a global mayors’ task force aimed at helping cities recover from COVID-19.

Plante is the only Canadian named to the 11-person panel, which also includes the mayors of Hong Kong, Lisbon, Melbourne, New Orleans and Freetown, Sierra Leone, among others.

READ MORE: Montreal North implementing new measures to stem spread of COVID-19

In a news release, Montreal says the group’s goal is to accelerate cities’ economic recovery with a focus on public health, reducing inequality and fighting climate change.

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The task force is an initiative of the C40 Cities network, which focuses largely on issues related to climate change.

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Montreal is a Canadian hotspot for COVID-19, with over 12,800 cases and 1,078 deaths as of Thursday morning.

READ MORE: Is Montreal ready to get back to business?

Plante says in a statement that her city has been hard-hit economically by the virus, and improved resilience will be key to recovery.