After a stroke that forced him to relearn how to walk and talk, Denis Coderre feels invested with a mission to combat the growing “separatist” threat from Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.
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Tempted by the leadership of the Liberal Party of Quebec, the former mayor of Montreal will launch the “No thanks!” movement on Wednesday, recalling the famous slogan of the No camp in the 1980 referendum.
The former federal minister makes no secret of it: it was the specter of a third popular consultation on sovereignty and a Quebec currency that triggered his desire to return to the political scene.
“If there wasn’t a possible third referendum, if we hadn’t talked about independence, I might not be here. This is the trigger,” he confided in an interview with our Parliamentary Office. If there are people who want a new country, I already have one!”
- Listen to the press review commented by Alexandre Dubé via QUB :
The PLQ too left
Ten months ago, Denis Coderre woke up one morning feeling unwell, with speech difficulties. Then, it was the left side of his body that no longer followed. The recovery was long and arduous. He now feels “in shape” and ready to take up the pilgrim’s staff against the threat of a “new referendum chicane” and the rise of the left.
Stevens LeBlanc / Le Journal de Québec
“I want to thank life for giving me a second chance,” says the man who must travel 300 kilometers on the way to Compostela in May, before announcing the fruit of his reflection on the race for the leadership of the PLQ.
A party which, however, has become “too left” for its taste. “The PLQ has always been the party of the economy. If we want to distribute wealth, we must always create it well.”
Thus, he is in favor of the controversial battery factory project of the Swedish Northvolt. Denis Coderre adds, however, that the CAQ government’s project was poorly put together.
The CAQ erased from the debate
The PLQ remains the only truly federalist political formation which can serve as a bulwark against the PQ and solidarity “separatists”, “socialists”, insists the candidate expected to succeed Dominique Anglade.
According to the former mayor of the metropolis, François Legault’s CAQ can do nothing against the return of this emerging federalist-sovereignist axis. The position of the Caquists is too timid, judges Denis Coderre.
“I believe in Canada. To be liberal is to be federalist. I can’t wait for you to ask Bernard Drainville if he is for Quebec in Canada. I have nothing against late vocations, but…,” he says.
And according to Denis Coderre, the threat from “left parties” is very real. Recent polls show that the Parti Québécois and Québec solidaire combined currently have nearly 50% of voting intentions.
“Such a situation has unfortunately become possible since the PLQ temporarily ceased to play a crucial role in the democratic balance that Quebec needs. It is therefore time for the liberals, the people of the center and the federalists to return to the PLQ, whether or not I choose to enter the race for its leadership. Because a fight is coming. And all No veterans are called upon to support the cause.”
Surprisingly, Denis Coderre has not yet read the Committee’s report on the revival of the PLQ. But he promises to do it.