Charles Milliard will be a candidate for the leadership of the PLQ

Photo: Valérian Mazataud Archives Le Devoir During the last general council of the Quebec Liberal Party, at the end of May, several Liberals, including young activists, praised Mr. Milliard's qualities. He is seen here in 2021.

Léo Mercier-Ross

Published at 6:42 p.m. Updated at 8:57 p.m.

• Québec

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Charles Milliard, the outgoing CEO of the Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec (FCCQ), will be a candidate for the leadership of the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ). He made the announcement via a post on his LinkedIn account on Friday evening.

“The thinking is over,” he said in the post.

“After receiving the support of many young people, having met activists from all regions with whom I had many discussions on the future of Quebec and our party, I can confirm to you: I will be a candidate for the leadership of the Quebec Liberal Party,” he said.

Charles Milliard assures that he will present “very soon the ideas that drive me and the team that will help me realize them.” “It's promising,” he says.

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Last June, the FCCQ announced that Charles Milliard would be leaving his position, specifying that he had “expressed his intention to devote himself to other professional projects.” He has since bowed out on July 1st.

At the last PLQ general council, at the end of May, several Liberals, including young activists, had praised Mr. Milliard's qualities. “Charles Milliard would be a very good candidate. I look at his economic profile. We have always been, at the base, an economic party,” declared André Fortin, MNA and former Liberal minister.

The former CEO thus joins former Montreal mayor Denis Coderre on the list of official candidates for the PLQ leadership. The latter had announced his candidacy in June.

The MNA for Marguerite-Bourgeoys, Frédéric Beauchemin, is openly thinking about it. He revealed in an interview with Devoir that he “is extremely eager to get started,” but that he will make the official announcement of his candidacy “when we are ready.”

“The most important thing is that there will be a real debate of ideas. It will be fun”, adds Mr. Beauchemin. “The goal of a leadership race is to have a debate of ideas and to delve into the issues in depth,” he says. According to him, the most important thing “is to be able to win back the hearts of Quebecers. And the best way to do that is with good ideas.”

The PLQ leadership race will officially launch next January.

With The Canadian Press