No leader before spring 2025 for the PLQ

Pierre Saint-Arnaud The Canadian Press From left to right, André Pratte and Madwa-Nika Cadet of the Committee on the relaunch of the Liberal Party of Quebec, Raphaël Primeau -Ferraro, president of the party, and Marc Tanguay, interim leader of the PLQ, during a press conference in Montreal, Thursday

Patrice Bergeron – The Canadian Press and Thomas Laberge – The Canadian Press in Drummondville< /em>

October 13, 2023

• Quebec

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The next leader of the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ) will not be chosen until spring 2025.

This is what liberal sources confirmed to The Canadian Press on Friday.

All the rules of the leadership race should be revealed Sunday morning at the PLQ general council which takes place this weekend in Drummondville, where reconstruction and recovery will be discussed.

Internally, some hoped that a late race would give external candidates time to launch.

Two weeks ago, Radio-Canada reported that the vast majority of Liberal elected officials wanted a run in 2025.

 

The public network reported Friday that each candidate would have to pay a deposit of $40,000 to be part of the race. race.

The expenses of each candidate would also be capped at $400,000, information that The Canadian Press could not confirm.

The MP for Marguerite-Bourgeoys, Frédéric Beauchemin – the only one to have shown interest in launching the leadership – favored the scenario of a faster race in 2024.

However, Mr. Beauchemin was excluded from the Liberal caucus last week following a complaint for psychological harassment which was filed by the president of the party's youth wing, Élyse Moisan.

Frédéric Beauchemin also plans to be present at the general council despite his exclusion from the caucus. The main person concerned assures that he has nothing to reproach himself for in this affair.

Federal Liberal MP Joël Lightbound has not closed the door to entering the leadership race.

Interim leader Marc Tanguay as well as MPs Monsef Derraji, Marwah Rizqy and André Fortin have all closed the door to launch.

Remember that the party has been without a leader since the resignation of Dominique Anglade last November, following the debacle of the PLQ in the October general elections.

< h4>Also read:

• An “inauthentic” and disorganized Liberal Party

The party then bit dust in all regions of Quebec, except Montreal, Laval, Montérégie and Outaouais.

The PLQ nevertheless kept its official opposition status by electing 21 deputies, thanks to its concentrated vote in several ridings where there is a significant English-speaking population.

Since then, the caucus has, however, excluded the member for Vaudreuil, Marie-Claude Nichols, as well as, very recently, Mr. Beauchemin.

< p>The parliamentary wing therefore now has 19 members.