Denis Coderre has an original way of campaigning for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ). It’s as if he’s going on about the reasons why liberals should choose someone else.
From the outset, he had upset a sacred cow by declaring that he would maintain the exemption provision in the Law on State Secularism. He was absolutely right to say that this provision was “part of the deal » which allowed the repatriation of the Constitution in 1982, but this does not prevent it from being generally considered as an instrument of the devil in the PLQ.
The prospect of seeing Mr. Coderre enter the race gives him access to all the platforms, but he gives the impression of wanting to use them above all to settle scores with the mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante, whose main fault is in reality of having taken him out of city hall and humiliating him when he wanted to return there.
Lately, he has criticized her for not being sufficiently present on the public stage, while he himself loves the cameras. First, he deplored the fact that no one represented the City at Brian Mulroney’s funeral. When it appeared that the president of the municipal council, Martine Musau Muele, was indeed there, this did not satisfy him, it should have been Mme Plant itself. This might have been desirable, but what is Mr. Coderre getting involved in?
It is possible that the mayor ultimately decides not to seek a third term, but that is none of her business either. M’s officeme Plante may affirm that she intends to represent herself, but he persists in maintaining the opposite. He denies wishing him any harm: “All I say is that there is a wear and tear of power. » Simple observation.
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We can understand that he does not hold it in his heart, but resentment is a bad advisor in politics, where it is better to try to make yesterday’s enemies tomorrow’s friends. What interest can a candidate for leadership of a party whose vast majority of deputies are elected in Montreal have in continuing hostilities with its mayor? The PLQ will already have enough adversaries.
Rather than seek trouble with Mme Plante, Mr. Coderre should say what he thinks of Justin Trudeau’s pre-budget offensive in Quebec’s areas of jurisdiction. Is this self-confessed candidate for the title of “Captain Canada” one of those who “don’t care” about these quibbles?
In an interview given to Duty last February, he did not hide his lack of interest in these questions. “There are some who like that, talking about the constitution. I want to work to get homeless people off the streets, I want to find ways for them to have jobs and that they have housing,” he explained. So, if Ottawa wants to help…
To better prepare for his pilgrimage to Compostela, Mr. Coderre would do well to devote himself to edifying reading. For example, the report of the PLQ revival committee. He would discover that, whatever federalist he may be, respect for the sharing of powers provided for by the Constitution is always considered a non-negotiable principle.
A party leader, let alone an aspiring prime minister, must be able to walk and chew gum at the same time. When he founded the Coalition Avenir Québec, François Legault also believed he could ignore the constitutional question, even if only for ten years, to concentrate on “real business”, but reality soon made him aware. catch up.
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The interest in the leadership shown by Mr. Coderre was initially seen as a good publicity stunt, but the Liberals quickly became aware of the need to attract more reassuring candidates before falling under the thumb of a man in whom several see a dangerous adventurer.
After the withdrawal of all potential candidates within the caucus, with the exception of Frédéric Beauchemin (Marguerite-Bourgeoys), still unofficially in the ranks, we are now talking about the possible entry into the running of the president of the Employers’ Council and ex-MP of Roberval, Karl Blackburn, or even the president and CEO of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce of Quebec, Charles Milliard. We always dream of François-Philippe Champagne, but he himself does not seem to see his future in Quebec.
Among the liberals, nostalgic for the time when the PLQ was recognized as “the party of the economy”, there is a sort of fixation on a candidacy coming from the business community, but business people rarely make the best politicians.
Five years ago, they saw Alexandre Taillefer in their soup to succeed Philippe Couillard, but they quickly became disillusioned when they saw him at work. François Legault is the exception to the rule, but he still had twenty years in politics when he became prime minister.