Coderre takes aim at rival Plante's `empty promises'
Denis Coderre officially launched his bid to regain the mayoralty on Friday with a pledge to be at the service of all Montrealers and leave behind what he called four years of governing for party militants at the expense of the entire community under Valérie Plante.
“Decisions taken to favour one group over another and poorly crafted plans must become a thing of the past,” he said before a throng of supporters and his Ensemble Montréal party’s candidates who had gathered at the Imperial Theatre downtown in the evening.
Coderre also repeated his message that Plante, who is seeking a second term in the Nov. 7 election, and her Projet Montréal party have given four years of “empty promises.”
“The city of Montreal must become the tool of our major collective projects, the partner of all actors and the government of all Montrealers,” he said.
It was Day 1 of municipal election campaigns across most of Quebec.
Coderre served as mayor of Montreal for one term from 2013 to 2017 — the city’s first mayor not to win a second-consecutive mandate since Sarto Fournier’s single term from 1957 to 1960.
In 2013, Coderre’s party, then called Équipe Denis Coderre pour Montréal, fell short of winning a majority on city council — another first since the advent of municipal parties in the city 60 years ago. In 2017, Coderre lost to Plante.
Coderre, a former federal cabinet minister who served for 16 years as Liberal MP for Bourassa riding covering Montreal North, polled as a favourite to lead the Quebec Liberal Party two years ago. However, he didn’t bite.
On Friday, Coderre announced his co-candidate in this election will be Chantal Rossi, an incumbent councillor in Montreal North. Mayoral aspirants usually pick a co-candidate because a losing mayoral candidate has the option of taking their co-candidate’s seat on city council if the latter wins their race.
Since he announced his return to politics this spring, Coderre has polled ahead of Plante, although his lead has narrowed.
Earlier on Friday, Plante painted her rival as “a man of the past who is running once again without a vision or a plan.” Coderre responded that Montrealers are interested in issues and not in name-calling. Coderre has said that recent gun violence and citizens’ diminished sense of safety have made public safety a central issue in the campaign.