Former Liberal Minister Marc Bellemare to Address Quebec Conservative Party Activists

Photo: Jacques Boissinot Archives The Canadian Press Marc Bellemare will plead in favour of tougher penalties for offenders on Saturday before PCQ activists.

Patrice Bergeron – The Canadian Press in Quebec City

Published yesterday at 10:41 a.m.

• Québec

Former Liberal Justice Minister Marc Bellemare will address Quebec Conservative Party (PCQ) activists who will be meeting in a national council in Victoriaville on Saturday.

Former elected officials from other political parties are also expected to be present, PCQ spokesperson Cédric Lapointe suggested during an interview with The Canadian Press.

Mr. Bellemare will advocate for tougher sentences for offenders, Mr. Lapointe indicated.

He intends to address the issue of minimum sentences for domestic and sexual violence, as well as the abolition of prison sentences. residence.

The Jordan decision and prison funding reform will also be discussed, it was specified.

The PCQ is holding its national council in Victoriaville because a by-election could be called there soon and it believes it has a chance of winning.

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The Arthabaska seat could indeed become available in the near future.

The current MP, Éric Lefebvre, an independent excluded from the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ), announced last April his intention to make the jump to federal politics under the banner of Pierre Poilievre’s Conservative Party of Canada (CPC).

So when the federal election is called, a by-election will have to be held in Arthabaska.

Arthabaska is a rather fertile ground for conservative ideas: the riding association has more than 1,400 members, according to PCQ data.

A very recent Segma poll commissioned by the Parti Québécois (PQ) would place it first in the race, with 30%, but the PCQ follows closely, at 26%, and the CAQ at 23%. Québec solidaire (QS) would obtain 11% of the vote and the Liberal Party (PLQ) 7%.

The PCQ would thus aim to finally enter the National Assembly and its leader Éric Duhaime does not rule out the possibility of running for office himself, the party spokesperson suggested.

In the 2022 general election, Conservative candidate Tarek Henoud came in second with more than 11,000 votes, but Mr. Lefebvre won almost double that.

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Marc Bellemare became known in another era for his crusade against “no fault,” the no-fault regime established by the Société d’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ): it covers all Quebecers who are victims of a road accident, whether they are at fault or not.

Elected Liberal MP in 2003 and appointed Minister of Justice by Jean Charest, he resigned in 2004.

Furthermore, his allegations will notably be at the origin of the Bastarache commission in 2010-2011.

He had suggested that he had been pressured by influential members of the PLQ for the appointment of judges and that he had been at the centre of influence peddling.

Judge Michel Bastarache had finally questioned Mr. Bellemare's version. He had concluded that the minister had not been subjected to “colossal pressure”, but that the system “opens the door to possibilities of favouritism in the choice of candidates”.

The method of appointing judges was subsequently reformed.