Coderre was the member of Parliament for the riding of Bourassa from 1997 until 2013, and was the Immigration minister from 2002 to 2003 and became the mayor of Montreal in 2013, but lost in 2017 to Valérie Plante.

He has a BA in political science from the Université de Montréal and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Ottawa.

On December 12, 2003, prime minister Paul Martin advised governor general Adrienne Clarkson to appoint Coderre to the Cabinet as president of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada where he was responsible for a number of files, such as the creation of the new Public Service Human Resources Management Agency.

As secretary of state for amateur sport, Coderre successfully negotiated a number of national and international agreements and helped to establish the World Anti-Doping Agency in Montreal.

[5] During the events of the sponsorship scandal, Coderre was accused of frequent confidential conversations with Pierre Tremblay, head of the Communications Coordination Services Branch of Public Works.

His previous position as vice-president of public affairs for Le Groupe Polygone Éditeurs Inc. was judged to be a key connecting factor.

[7] Close links to Claude Boulay of Groupe Everest, another actor in the sponsorship scandal, were also made during the Gomery Inquiry.

[8] During the 2006 election, Coderre accused National Hockey League player Shane Doan of uttering ethnic slurs directed against French-speaking referees at a game in Montreal.

The Globe and Mail columnist Eric Duhatschek noted that "the NHL is tough on ethnic slurs ... if Mr. Coderre has any proof he should produce it.

"[9] Doan was given a gross misconduct penalty for verbal abuse of the officials at the end of the December 13, 2005 game between his team, the Phoenix Coyotes, and the Montreal Canadiens.

Although one of the linesmen, Michel Cormier, filed a report against the player, Doan was cleared by NHL's chief disciplinarian and executive vice-president Colin Campbell, who concluded that the allegations were baseless.

[11] Hillier, in return, accused Coderre of being more concerned with party image than in protecting Canadian Forces members.

He criticized the Harper government who did not invite him on an official tour of the country that was made by ministers Bev Oda and Maxime Bernier a few days before him.

Coderre had been tasked with picking 'star candidates' for the next election, attempting to replace Montreal-area MPs Stéphane Dion, Lise Zarac, and Bernard Patry, as well as Laval MP Raymonde Folco, at Ignatieff's request.

[15] Coderre had chosen Nathalie Le Prohon to run in Outremont, formerly a Liberal safe seat held by the NDP's Thomas Mulcair.

[27] On January 31, 2015, the Coderre administration denied a request to open an Islamic community centre in the Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve neighbourhood of Montreal because its imam Hamza Chaoui, had allegedly preached that Canadians ought to change their legal system to sharia.

The Province of Quebec's Crown prosecutors office confirmed that Coderre would not face charges for the media stunt.

[31] On January 21, 2016, Coderre, along with other officials of the Montreal Metropolitan Community (Communauté Métropolitaine de Montréal), formally opposed the Energy East pipeline project based on environmental concerns.

While no reason for the move was issued publicly, the action followed reports that Coderre owed more than $130,000 in provincial taxes and more than $266,000 to the Canada Revenue Agency.