Denis Coderre a ‘quality potential candidate’: Quebec interim Liberal Party leader

Former Montreal mayor Denis Coderre’s considering running as Quebec Liberal Party leader is “good news,” according to interim leader Marc Tanguay.

He is a “quality potential candidate,” Tanguay says.

“I’m not at all surprised […] For me, it’s confirmation that there are quality people in Quebec who are thinking about running,” Tanguay told The Canadian Press in an interview on the eve of the Quebec Liberal Party’s (QLP) pre-sessional caucus in Thetford Mines.

Coderre confirmed that he was interested in the party’s leadership earlier this month and that he will be travelling to Europe in May before making his final decision.

Tanguay points out that the race has not officially started, but he is confident that other candidates will be ready to run.

“We can’t wait for the debates to take place,” he said, adding that he will remain neutral in the race.

There is one other person who could be interested: Frédéric Beauchemin, the Liberal MNA for Marguerite-Bourgeoys.

Beauchemin was recently reinstated to the Liberal caucus after being expelled last October because due to complaints of psychological harassment lodged against him by the president of the Liberal Party Youth Commission, Élyse Moisan.

“I’m pleased to see that the mediation was successful and that the complaints have been withdrawn,” said Tanguay. “I’m happy to have Fred Beauchemin back and he’ll have all his files.”

However, Tanguay was cautious about the terms of the MP’s reinstatement.

“I’m going to keep the discussions I’ve had with Fred to myself (…) I’m not going to comment any further, because the situation is behind us,” he said.

Federal Liberal MP Joël Lightbound says he has not ruled out entering the leadership race.

Tanguay, Monsef Derraji, Marwah Rizqy and André Fortin have said they are not running.

The next Liberal leader will be chosen in the spring of 2025.

Immigration

Immigration and the housing crisis are currently Quebec’s biggest issues.

Although Tanguay acknowledges that the two issues are linked, he blames the situation on the François Legault’s Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government.

“With the number of new arrivals, it’s clear that we need more public services and more housing. But once again, we must not turn our backs on this bad government, which failed to act when it should have,” Tanguay said. “We must ensure that immigration is controlled.”

There are currently more than half a million temporary immigrants in Quebec.

Last Wednesday, Parti Québécois (PQ) leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said that his party would reassess its permanent immigration thresholds, currently set at 35,000 new arrivals per year, arguing that the situation had changed significantly since the last election.

Tanguay has already opened the door to revising his party’s permanent immigration target.

In the previous election, the PLQ wanted to increase this number to 70,000 new arrivals per year.

“The question of thresholds (for permanent immigrants) becomes theoretical when there are 500,000 temporary workers in Quebec,” argued Tanguay.

According to him, temporary immigrants are essential given the current labour shortage.

Hydro-Québec

Radio-Canada reported on Saturday that the CAQ government was preparing a bill to allow private companies to sell their electricity among themselves which would allow Hydro-Québec to buy their surpluses.

“This is an important debate. We’ve been calling for a national conversation on our energy future in Quebec for more than a year, and this clearly has to be part of the debate,” he said. “The future of Hydro-Québec cannot be left to François Legault and (Minister of the Economy, Innovation and Energy) Pierre Fitzgibbon alone behind closed doors.”

The PLQ wants to use its caucus, to be held from Jan. 23 to 25, to set the tone for the parliamentary session.

The party wants to follow the government’s lead on the economy and small and medium-sized enterprises SMEs.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French Jan. 23, 2024.