Coderre makes it official: He’s running for leadership of Quebec Liberals

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QUEBEC — Former Montreal mayor Denis Coderre has announced he will be seeking the leadership of the Quebec Liberal Party.

After dropping numerous hints in the last few weeks, Coderre made it official Friday at a news conference held on the grounds in front of the National Assembly.

Even before he spoke, he issued a statement confirming he will run, revealing his campaign slogan: “Avec Coderre, ca va marcher.”

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“I am running because I have the conviction that I can help the party retake its place in the hearts of Quebecers,” he said in the statement. “I invited party faithful to once again become members of the party so we can work together on this big project.”

Should he win the race, Coderre plans to run for office in the riding of Bellechasse, on the South Shore of Quebec. The riding is currently held by the Coalition Avenir Québec.

He becomes the first candidate to officially announce he is in the running. The party has been without a permanent leader since the resignation of Dominique Anglade in November 2022 after her electoral loss.

Coderre alerted the media of the timing of his announcement in a Facebook post earlier this week.

In the message, he said he chose June 21 because the date symbolizes the “profound values which have governed my actions since the start of my political career.”

For one thing, he said it is National Indigenous Peoples Day, which he said shows the importance he places on good relations with Quebec’s First Nations and his personal recognition of the systemic racism they were subjected to historically.

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Friday is the eve of the long Fête nationale weekend, “an event which unites us and which belongs to all Quebecers regardless of their origins or allegiances,” he wrote. June 21 also marks the summer solstice.

“Because there is certainly plenty of work to do before the next elections,” he wrote. “But we have the time.”

The next Quebec general election is in October 2026. The Liberals will choose their leader in June 2025.

Coderre, who is also a former federal Liberal cabinet minister, is considered an outsider for many Quebec Liberals.

While he carries more name recognition than some of the other potential candidates, as reflected in an early Léger poll, many Liberals are not comfortable with his old style of doing politics and his past track record, including two losses to Valérie Plante in attempts to get the mayor job back.

A more recent poll of Liberals showed his initial support within the party had dropped from 27 per cent in February to 12 per cent in June.

Analysts speculated Coderre’s attempt to raise his profile by undertaking a personal pilgrimage and walking the Camino de Santiago in Spain — pausing almost daily to post videos of himself — had not really helped raise his profile.

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Before that, he made a surprise Valentine’s Day visit to the legislature, positioning himself as a Captain Canada-style candidate ready to take on the surging Parti Québécois.

He arrives amid an uncertain atmosphere within the Liberal party, which despite the 2022 electoral loss forms the official opposition in the legislature.

The party has spent the last years in a major soul-searching exercise, seeking to find the correct mix of policies and profiles that will woo francophone voters back while not losing minority support.

Coderre will probably face a few opponents in the race.

The list includes Liberal MNA Frédéric Beauchemin, who represents the Montreal riding of Marguerite-Bourgeoys.

Another potential candidate is Charles Milliard, who last week resigned from his job as president of the Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec. He is taking the summer to reflect.

Antoine Tardif, the mayor of Victoriaville, is under pressure from some Liberals to run, as is federal cabinet minister François-Philippe Champagne.

This week, however, one prominent potential candidate, Karl Blackburn, president of the Conseil du patronat employers group, bowed out of the race for health reasons.

To date, no women have advanced their names as possible candidates.

pauthier@postmedia.com

twitter.com/philipauthier

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