Denis Coderre on cross-province tour, mulling Quebec Liberal Party leadership run

Former Montreal mayor and federal cabinet minister Denis Coderre is back on the airwaves talking politics as he contemplates a run at the Quebec Liberal Party leadership.

Coderre was in Drummondville on the weekend on a preliminary tour across the province.

"Everybody wanted to talk to me, and you saw the senior citizens standing up," he said. "It's a great sign of respect."

Coderre is not calling it a campaign yet, saying that he first wants to meet more people on the ground to see if they are, in his words, fed up with him.

"I've been there 40 years," he said. "Aren't you fed up? Do you think I have enough? And it was unanimous. [For] None of them it's not an issue."

Political analyst Raphael Melançon said people can love Coderre and respect him, but it doesn't mean they will vote for him as leader.

"There's certainly a star power factor," he said. "People want to know him; people want to shake his hand because they recognize him because they know him because he's a well-known figure in Quebec politics. Now, that doesn't mean it's going to translate into votes."

The Quebec Liberals have been without a leader since Dominique Anglade stepped down in 2022, following the party's worst election defeat in history.

There is no official candidate declared in the leadership race, though MNA Frederic Beauchemin has shown an interest in running.

Melançon said Coderre is stirring up interest.

"There are certainly people in favour of Denis Coderre becoming a leader of the Quebec Liberal Party but there is also a strong anything but Coderre vote amongst this party certainly," he said.

While the experienced politician is still undecided, he already has ideas on how to revive the party.

"We don't have to reinvent the wheel," he said. "We need to make it turn. So the Liberal Party needs to bring back their basic."

Melançon said, however, that after two harsh defeats at the mayoral level, it may be too early for Coderre to run.

"If he doesn't succeed with this leadership race, it's going to be very difficult for him to try and come back to politics eventually," he said.

Coderre still has a few more stops planned on his tour before making a final decision in June.