Former Montreal mayor Denis Coderre mulling Quebec Liberal leadership run

Denis Coderre, a former Montreal mayor who also spent 16 years as a federal MP, has his eye on a career in provincial politics.

During a column on the CKLV community radio station Wednesday, Coderre confirmed that he was seriously considering a run to become the leader of the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ).

Coderre is a well-known political figure in the province.

He was the mayor of Montreal from 2013 to 2017, when he was defeated by Projet Montréal's Valérie Plante.

He was also the MP for the federal riding of Bourassa, which includes Montréal-Nord and part of the Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough, between 1997 and 2013. He was Canada's immigration minister from 2002 to 2003.

"Am I thinking about it? Yes. Am I serious? Yes," Coderre said during the interview when talking about the possibility of running for the Liberal leadership.

"Am I controversial? Of course. Am I known? I'm still looking for the five per cent of people who don't know me."

Coderre added that he reached out to people in his entourage and asked if they thought he was qualified to become premier of Quebec or if people were fed up with him. So far, the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, he said.

Coderre said he doesn't expect to make a decision before May.

At the provincial level, the PLQ has been reeling since the Coalition Avenir Québec party took power in 2018. 

In the 2022 Quebec election, the Liberals maintained their status as the Official Opposition but received only 14 per cent of the popular vote. Dominique Anglade stepped down as the party's leader a little more than a month later.

Marc Tanguay has been serving as the party's interim leader.

In 2021, Coderre attempted to win back Montreal's city hall, but he lost to Plante by an even wider margin than in 2017.

Following that defeat, he announced that he would step away from politics for good. In the past, Coderre has also said he was not interested in being a politician at the provincial level.