Publicly, Sam Hamad says he is still “thinking” about his possible leap into the municipal arena to snatch the mayoralty of Quebec City. Privately, however, the former minister responsible for the National Capital is getting busy, sounding out his support and putting in motion what has all the makings of a candidacy aimed at dislodging Bruno Marchand in November 2025.
The former member for Louis-Hébert does not deny it: in the capital, many people approach him to encourage him to get started. “I am in demand in Quebec, quite a bit, I would say,” says the person concerned. “But I am still thinking about it, there is no change on that front.”
The spotlight is now once again on him. His former colleague in three Charest governments Nathalie Normandeau claimed Monday, with anonymous sources to support her claim, that Sam Hamad was running for Quebec City Hall.
The news reported by 98.5 FM made the politician jump almost in spite of himself. “You know, when the radio season starts, you need something to get you off to a good start. Probably for Nathalie, it was a good start,” he said, specifying that he “never talked about” this ambition that many persist in attributing to him.
Yet last week, the former Minister of Transport was at the prestigious Laval-sur-le-Lac golf club as part of an event organized by the Institut de développement urbain du Québec. And the organization’s executive director, former Liberal minister Isabelle Melançon, reportedly heard another speech in private. “I saw him last week, and he told me he was preparing things,” says Philippe Couillard’s former Minister of the Environment. “We’ve been hearing for months that he’s eyeing the Quebec City mayoralty. He told us that something was coming.”
Sam Hamad denies having made such remarks. “I never said that something was coming. That’s their interpretation. Maybe they said that at the cocktail party, after a good beer…”
“Exploratory” meetings
However, the prospective candidate for mayor of the capital has had numerous meetings with elected officials from Quebec in recent months. Mr. Hamad held a meeting with Équipe Priorité Québec last October at the party’s request, according to the party’s spokesperson, Frédéric Munger. Since then, discussions have continued in a “jovial and friendly” manner.
Behind the scenes, Sam Hamad talks with members of the city council and leaders of the various opposition parties. “I met with city councillors. I chatted with them. I asked them: ‘How are things going?’” assures the former president of the Conseil du trésor du Québec. “It allows me to get news, to see the state of mind, to see how things are going in the city — how things are going.”
These “exploratory” meetings, however, only concern elected members of the opposition. Mayor Marchand’s political attaché, Thomas Gaudreault, assures that no member of the cabinet has had a meeting with him.
Talks with the councillor for the district of La Chute-Montmorency–Seigneurial, Stevens Melançon, would however be of a more interested nature, according to two sources at city hall. According to them, the elected member of Équipe Priorité Québec would like to taste power after several terms on the opposition benches. “Stevens believes he would have a better chance of succeeding with Sam,” said one of them on condition of anonymity.
The information was immediately denied by the political party. “It’s impossible,” maintains Frédéric Munger. Stevens is one of the most honest people I know, he would tell us this in complete transparency if he had this kind of discussion with Sam Hamad.”
Meetings with elected officials from Quebec City First, the official opposition at City Hall, have also reportedly taken place in recent months. Party leader Claude Villeneuve has never hidden his desire to take over the Quebec City mayoralty. However, this father of two young children has publicly expressed his openness to letting someone else carry his party’s colours in 2025.
First, in Quebec, the internal watchword is to keep “ears open” to external proposals, but any change at the head of the party must imperatively receive the approval of the seven elected officials.
In his reflection, Sam Hamad weighs the idea of seizing the leadership of a party. “You have to evaluate it, that’s normal. If I decide to go there, I have to know what mechanism I’m going to embark on.”
“It’s a beast”
Sam Hamad’s relatives consulted by The Duty Tuesday emphasized the former minister’s political talent and his intimate knowledge of issues affecting the capital. “He’s a beast. If I were on Bruno Marchand’s team, I would start preparing right away, because he’s sure and certain that he’s going to be ready,” said a former Liberal organizer.
The former minister seems to have already refined his argument. “Things are very difficult in Quebec right now,” says Sam Hamad. “The economy is not doing well, relations with the government are not going well, we don’t have any major economic projects in the region. Everything we’ve built, everything Régis Labeaume has built, we’re in the process of [de le perdre]. »
When will his thinking end? “Logic says that it is useless before spring,” replies the main person concerned – without specifying whether the logic evoked is, first and foremost, electoral.