Denis Coderre releases financial, tax, work records

Denis Coderre has revealed the numerous companies that sought his services since he lost Montreal’s mayoral race in 2017, and he disclosed he was paid more than $350,000 for those services last year alone.

This came after incumbent mayor Valérie Plante urged the Ensemble Montréal leader to unveil his tax records – in the final week leading up to Montreal’s Nov. 6-7 municipal election.

Coderre revealed he did consulting work for Cogir Immobilier, the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile), Parc Omega, Stingray, Studio Felix et Paul, and a Quebec company that asked to remain private.

Coderre also worked as an ambassador for the Jewish General Hospital Foundation, and in an administrative function at Eurostar / Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec.

Ensemble Montreal says Coderre was paid $364,428 for those positions in 2020. The document also said Coderre paid $187,850 in taxes (provincial and federal) last year.

Coderre said Plante was using this to “distract” voters from the election issues that really mattered, and said Projet Montreal was attempting to soil his reputation.

Plante unveiled her taxes earlier this week and said it was all about transparency.

“To be honest, I feel it’s the same scenario as 2017, when Denis Coderre was hiding the number of tickets he sold for Formula E and now it’s all over again. Same thing, he wants to hide his revenues and I think that Montrealers are really, they don’t appreciate that lack of transparency. They expect better from their candidates,” said Plante at a press conference on Tuesday.

Coderre initially said he could not unveil his taxes or the companies consulted for since his defeat in the 2017 Montreal mayoral race – citing confidentiality reasons.

He said that once elected, he would work with the city’s ethics council on this issue specifically.

“Listen, I didn’t hide anything, because I’m on social media and I was pleased because some (companies) even issued press releases, but when I sign an agreement, there’s confidentiality attached to it for commercial reasons,” Coderre said Tuesday. “Every consultant will tell you this and I said I’m going to respect the process of the institution. So when I will be elected mayor, I will meet with the council of ethics.”