Former Montreal mayor Denis Coderre owes nearly $400K to tax agencies

The former mayor of Montreal and former federal minister Denis Coderre is a candidate for the leadership of the Quebec Liberal Party. Photo taken in Quebec City on 21 June 2024. (The Canadian Press/Jacques Boissinot)

The Canada Revenue Agency is seeking more than $260,000 from former Montreal mayor Denis Coderre in a mortgage recovery filing.

CTV News obtained a copy of the CRA’s filing in Federal Court on Sept. 25.

That sum is in addition to the $133,000 Revenue Québec is seeking from Coderre, also a Quebec Liberal leadership candidate.

The news was first reported by La Presse.

When reached for comment on Wednesday, Coderre referred CTV News to his post on Facebook, which said that the recovery period following his stroke has "delayed the process of divorce and the sale of the family home, which was supposed to settle the liabilities."

"In my file with the tax authorities, the Canada Revenue Agency has also registered a mortgage on the family home, which is already up for sale. This comes as no surprise to me now that my divorce has been settled. It's all part of the consequences of my stroke and the divorce. It's only natural that [the Canada Revenue Agency] should also take out this guarantee before the family home is sold," he wrote.

"I'm dealing with one problem after another with all the goodwill I can muster, making the right decisions in the interests of my family. And I'm very happy to have learned to talk and walk again. These tax problems are part of the equation and I'm taking them calmly."

In a previous post online last month, Coderre said he was listing his home in Montreal-North for sale to settle his tax troubles with Revenue Québec.

"For the sake of transparency, and since the media are asking me, it's no longer a secret that Revenue Québec has imposed a legal mortgage of $133,000.00," he wrote in the social media post.

"The file will be settled shortly," he added.

The home was listed for $749,800, according to a listing on Centris.

He has previously maintained that his tax troubles would be resolved before the official start of the Quebec Liberal leadership race, which is set for January 2025.