Denis Coderre wants to become Quebec’s next premier.
On Friday morning, the former Montreal mayor and federal minister formally announced his candidacy for the Quebec Liberal Party leadership election.
Coderre, who represented Montreal as an MP, plans to run in the 2026 provincial election in the Quebec City region for the constituency of Bellechasse, whose current MP is Stephanie Lachance of the Coalition for the Future of Quebec (CAQ).
He said he chose Bellechasse because of its “federal” nature, its large French-speaking population and its reputation for its agriculture and industrial sectors. Over the past few decades, the seat has elected Liberal candidates at various times, but has also chosen other parties, including the Parti Québécois (PQ) and the Parti Democratica Québec, which merged with the Parti Democratica Québec in 2012.
Coderre served as Montreal’s mayor from 2013 to 2017, losing to Valérie Plante. Coderre left the party that bore his name at the time to run for mayor again in the 2021 municipal elections.
Plante defeated Coderre for the second time, winning by such a large margin that Coderre announced he was retiring from politics for good.
Set the mood
After making the announcement in front of the National Assembly, he called on “all disappointed Liberal members” to come back and join him.
“I think we need men and women with experience,” he said. “I’ve always loved this party. No matter what anybody says, I have deep feelings for this party. I think it’s important that we come together again.”
He sought to set the tone for his eventual campaign early on by addressing issues such as systemic racism, indigenous rights and immigration.
He has backed the controversial Third Link plan, criticizing the CAQ government for a “lack of credibility” in the process.
The staunch federalist also reiterated his opposition to a referendum on sovereignty.
“I don’t need a new country. I have a new country,” Coderre said, criticizing the PQ. “The best way to avoid a referendum is to not vote for them.”
Federalist Qualifications
Daniel Belland, a political science professor and director of McGill University’s Canada Institute, said Coderre’s constituency selection is an attempt to attack the Canadian Question Commission “on its territory.”
The CAQ-dominated district could be one of many areas a candidate hopes to win.
Béland said Coderre’s “unorthodox” position on Quebec City’s third link has been a “nightmare for the Quebec National Assembly,” but that it has drawn attention to his campaign.
“There’s something populist about him,” he said, which could set him apart from other candidates.
“I can’t say right now that there’s any kind of wave lifting him. If you look at the polling numbers, it’s actually the opposite,” Belland said.
He said with the PQ rising in the polls and the CAQ declining, and a third referendum on the horizon, Coderre’s leadership could be an opportunity for the party to “return to its traditional position as leader of the federalist camp.”
Belland said his strong federalism would help him “score some points” within the party.
The Liberal Party leadership election doesn’t begin until January 2025.
Others considering running include Frédéric Beauchemin, MP for Marguerite-Bourgeois, and Charles Milliard, who recently retired as speaker of the Canadian Parliament, according to Radio-Canada. Quebec Federation of Chambers of Commerce (FCCQ), and Victoriaville Mayor Antoine Tardif.
The Quebec Liberal Party is still recovering from the results of the last provincial election.
In 2022, the Liberal Party maintained its opposition status in the National Assembly but received only 14% of the vote, and Dominique Anglade resigned as party leader just over a month later.
Marc Tanguay is the party’s interim leader.
Before entering municipal politics, Coderre spent 16 years at the federal level, serving as the Member of Parliament for Bourassa, which includes parts of Montreal-Nord and Afoncique-Cartierville.
The Good and the Bad of Mayor Coderre
During Coderre’s term as mayor, the Quebec government granted metropolitan status to the City of Montreal, giving it greater autonomy in its economic, social and cultural development.
Coderre served at City Hall for four years and was involved in the city’s 375th anniversary celebrations.
In 2017, he oversaw hundreds of events to mark the occasion, including the lighting of the Jacques Cartier Bridge, which has become a focal point of the city’s skyline.
But one of the celebration’s key events was shrouded in controversy.
The Formula E race cost $24 million to host and was held on the streets of downtown Montreal rather than at the Gilles Villeneuve race track, a change that caused significant inconvenience to many people and businesses in the downtown core.
Coderre hailed the event as a success at the time, but it was later revealed that more than 40% of the tickets had been given away for free.
Mayor Valerie Plante canceled the event after taking office, but that decision led to a lawsuit.
