Outgoing Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre held his final press conference at city hall on Wednesday morning, after a stunning defeat to Valérie Plante three days ago.
An emotional Coderre started out by extending his thanks to his staff and team, was well as to his family.
He then went out to reflect upon his years as mayor, stating he had no regrets.
WATCH: Outgoing Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre held his final press conference at city hall on Wednesday following his defeat to Valérie Plante. As Global’s Tim Sargeant reports, Coderre reflected on his accomplishments, saying he is leaving the office with no regrets.
“It may sound pretentious, but I don’t have any regrets,” he said, adding that when you make a decision, you have to live with it. “You win some, you lose some.”
Coderre listed some of his accomplishments over the past four years, mentioning, the light rail train project, Montreal’s special Metropolis status, fighting corruption, as well as efforts at reconciliation and unity.
“What I’m most proud of? People are back together,” he said. “It’s not anglophone, francophone, and allophone… It’s Montrealers. Living together works.”
The one topic Coderre didn’t address was what went wrong during the campaign, this amid strong criticism from Team Coderre party members.
Coun. Lionel Perez, who was re-elected, had strong words for Coderre, using adjectives such as “terrible” and “defensive” to describe the campaign.
In a post-mortem posted to Facebook on Tuesday, Perez said Coderre used the “wrong strategy” and the campaign was wrought with “serious deficiencies.”
WATCH: Post-election reactions
After his defeat, Coderre announced he was leaving municipal politics and didn’t offer any additional clues as to what was next, aside from a well-deserved break.
“It’s the first time probably that I’m going to be able to go on vacation with my phone, without it ringing. That’s interesting,” he quipped.
READ MORE: Denis Coderre ‘quitting political life’ after losing Montreal mayoral race to Valérie Plante
Coderre said leaving city hall behind took him on an emotional roller coaster.
“I passed through all level of emotion, but at the end of the day, I feel proud, I feel humbled, I feel privileged,” he said.
The former Liberal MP and cabinet minister, who was elected mayor in 2013, campaigned largely on his record.
He was criticized for spending millions on showy projects to celebrate Montreal’s 375th birthday, and drew the ire of dog lovers when he introduced legislation last year to ban pit bulls from the
city.
READ MORE: Montreal SPCA calls municipal election results ‘great news for animals’
As for the woman who unseated him, Coderre wished her good luck.
Plante, 43, is the first woman to be elected mayor of Montreal
WATCH: ‘Huge privilege’ to be Montreal’s first female mayor
— With files from the Canadian Press
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