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.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Liberal MP says she's leaving politics over disrespectful dialogue, threats, misogyny
Liberal MP Pam Damoff says she won't run again in the next federal election, saying she has experienced misogyny, disrespectful dialogue in politics and threats to her life.
Concerns about Plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall Plexiglass barriers.
Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Ont. woman who faked pregnancy to defraud doulas arrested again on similar charges
Victims of a Brantford, Ont., woman who was sentenced to house arrest earlier this year for defrauding and deceiving doulas say they’re not surprised she’s been apprehended again on similar charges.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Construction begins on LGBTQ2S+ national monument in Ottawa
Shovels have hit the ground for constuction on Canada's LGBTQ2S+ national monument in Ottawa.
B.C. man awarded $5,000 in damages in first-of-it-kind intimate image case
In a first-of-its-kind case, a B.C. tribunal has ruled on a dispute involving the non-consensual sharing of intimate images, awarding damages and issuing orders that the photos be destroyed and taken offline.