In radio debut, Coderre open to run at mayoralty

Former Montreal mayor Denis Coderre made his debut as a local radio commentator Monday morning, less than 24 hours after saying in a television interview that he hasn’t completely dismissed the idea of seeking another term at city hall.

Paired with fellow contributor Mario Dumont, a former Quebec politician-turned-commentator on the TVA news network, Coderre was on air for half an hour of Puisqu’il faut se lever, Paul Arcand’s morning show on 98.5 FM.

The trio discussed the recent NRA convention in Dallas and American gun culture, as well as the overpackaging in plastic of a growing number of consumer products. The second topic was about as close as the show came to touching upon Coderre’s fouryear term as mayor, during which his administration instituted a ban on the commercial use of certain types of plastic bags.

However, in a separate, oneon-one television interview with Arcand, Sunday night on the TVA network, Coderre provided a full inventory of his feelings and impressions in the wake of his defeat last November at the hands of Valérie Plante and Projet Montréal.

“I was out of gas,” he told Arcand when asked how the defeat came about. “It’s clear that we don’t vote for the opposition, we vote to defeat the government . ... And when I said during my final press conference I take all the blame ... that’s it.

“I went through a lot in 2017. There was the business about my son, which floored me,” he said, referring to his son amassing thousands of dollars of credit card debt while visiting sex-related websites and then claiming he was the victim of identity theft. “I really had the impression that I’d hit a wall.”

Coderre also admitted that had he been more open about communicating figures on the issue of Formula E ticket sales — an issue that dogged him throughout the campaign — perhaps the matter would have been less costly politically. But he maintained the electriccar race itself “was exceptional.”

The event has since been cancelled by the Plante administration.

A former member of Parliament and cabinet minister, Coderre was adamant about not returning to federal politics. But he was less definitive when asked about the municipal arena.

“We’ll see,” he said. “I’m not saying no.”