Is Sam Hamad eyeing Quebec City mayor?

Photo: Jacques Boissinot The Canadian Press Former Liberal minister Sam Hamad answered questions from journalists during a press briefing in Quebec in July 2023.

Sébastien Tanguay in Quebec

Published yesterday at 6:56 p.m.

• Quebec City

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 doesn’t deny it: in the capital, many people approach him to encourage him to get started. “I’m in demand in Quebec City, quite a bit, I would say,” says the person concerned. “But I’m still thinking about it, there’s no change on that front.”

However, the spotlight is once again on him. His former colleague in three Charest governments Nathalie Normandeau stated Monday, citing anonymous sources, 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 started in the right place. “It was probably a good start for Nathalie,” he says, specifying that he “never spoke” of this ambition that many persist in attributing to her.

However, 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 Urban Development Institute of Quebec. And the general director of the organization, former Liberal minister Isabelle Melançon, reportedly heard another speech in private. “I saw him last week, and he told me that he was preparing things,” says Philippe Couillard’s former Minister of the Environment. We've been hearing for months that he's vying for the Quebec City hall. He told us something was coming. »

Sam Hamad denies having made such comments. “I never said anything was coming. This is their interpretation. Maybe they said that at the cocktail party, after a good beer…”

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“Exploratory” meetings

However, the prospective candidate for mayor of the capital has had numerous meetings with elected officials from Quebec City 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, things.”

However, these “exploratory” meetings only concern elected officials from the opposition. Mayor Marchand’s political attaché, Thomas Gaudreault, assures that no member of the cabinet has met with him.

Talks with the councillor for the Chute-Montmorency–Seigneurial district, Stevens Melançon, are, however, more interested in 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,” says 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 all transparency if he had this kind of discussion with Sam Hamad.”

Meetings with elected officials from Quebec City, the official opposition at City Hall, also reportedly took place in recent months. The party leader, Claude Villeneuve, has never hidden his desire to seize the Quebec City mayoralty. This father of two young children has, however, publicly expressed his openness to letting someone else carry the colours of his party in 2025.

At Quebec First, 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 thoughts, Sam Hamad weighs the idea of ​​taking over the leadership of a party. “You have to evaluate it, that's normal. If I decide to go for it, I have to know what mechanism I'm getting myself into.”

“He's a beast”

Sam Hamad's close associates consulted by Le Devoir Tuesday emphasize 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 is sure and certain that he will be ready,” says 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 [losing].”

When will his thinking end?? “Logic says it’s useless before spring,” replies the person concerned—without specifying whether the logic he’s talking about is, first and foremost, electoral.