Denis Coderre says he will reveal jobs he held in the private sector — if he's elected
Valérie Plante urges Coderre to disclose finances as she releases her tax returns
Montreal mayoral candidate Denis Coderre says he has no plans to disclose his financial activities since he left city hall, but will offer details if he is elected on Nov. 7.
"If I'm named to X board of directors, you sign a confidentiality agreement for commercial reasons and competition. That's it," he said Sunday on Radio-Canada's Tout le monde en parle. "Yes, I earned more than when I was mayor."
On Saturday, Radio-Canada reported that Coderre, the leader of Ensemble Montréal and mayor from 2013-2017, didn't want to answer questions concerning contracts he received in the last four years, nor his financial interests in the private sector.
The municipal council code of ethics stipulates that elected officials must share "pecuniary interests" they currently have for buildings, legal persons, companies and businesses likely to have contracts with the city or with any municipal body for which they take part, within 60 days of the election.
The disclosure must include the jobs and positions the elected official occupies as a member of a board of directors.
Valérie Plante shares her tax returns
Following Coderre's refusal to share his financial activities, Valérie Plante made her tax returns for the last four years available to the media, which she says is an initiative that reflects her team's "integrity and its freedom from conflict of interests."
Plante invited other mayoral candidates to follow suit. Radio-Canada had asked Mouvement Montreal party leader, Balarama Holness, but he refused to reveal his income, while the head of Montreal 2021, Luc Ménard, complied.
In the last municipal elections in Montreal in 2017, Coderre and Plante unveiled their tax returns before election day.
Robert Beaudry, a candidate for Projet Montréal in the district of Saint-Jacques, said Coderre should answer questions before the election about his business relationships, arguing they could have an important impact on projects that solicit public funds.
based on a report by Radio-Canada's Valérie Boisclair