The Quebec Liberal Party’s electoral committee will determine whether Denis Coderre’s debt to the Quebec tax authorities disqualifies him as a leadership candidate.
At this stage, there is no indication that the former Montreal mayor will be excluded from the race to succeed Dominique Anglade.
But Liberal sources stress that the electoral committee will have the final say in deciding who will be in the running next spring, as is the case in every leadership race.
Thus, all aspiring leaders will have to present a “denunciation of interests”, a sworn declaration of good conduct, a police certificate, as well as “authorization allowing the Party to carry out any verification it deems necessary regarding the candidate’s background”, according to the terms set out by the PLQ.
The pretenders to the throne have until April 11 to send their complete file to the PLQ.
With this information in hand, the electoral committee will be able to question Denis Coderre on the circumstances that led him to owe more than $66,000 to Revenu Québec, as revealed by our Investigation Bureau on Thursday morning.
A legal mortgage was registered by the Quebec tax authorities on the former mayor’s house in order to obtain a refund for these unpaid taxes.
Coderre reassuring
For his part, Denis Coderre wanted to be reassuring in a statement posted on Facebook on Thursday morning.
“I was informed yesterday that a legal mortgage was registered on a residence in Montreal North that I am a co-owner of. It refers to an amount equivalent to 9% of the value of the property. This residence has been inhabited exclusively by my ex-wife for years (5 years) and we are in the final process of separation (end of August). The rest is confidential information related to family life,” he wrote.
“This whole matter is under control and will be resolved shortly,” he added, stressing that he would not make any further comments and that he hoped the media would respect his privacy.
On LCN, MP Marwah Rizqy, a tax specialist by profession, stressed that Denis Coderre will have to clear up this matter before officially submitting his candidacy.
“It is certain that he will have to resolve this issue in order to move forward,” she commented briefly.
Ms. Rizqy emphasizes that this could be a real debt or a legitimate challenge to a notice of assessment by Mr. Coderre.
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