Photo: Valérian Mazataud Le Devoir From left to right, Christine Labrie, Émilise Lessard-Therrien and Ruba Ghazal, all three candidates for the position of co-leader -spokesperson for Québec solidaire, debated in the premises of “Devoir” on Tuesday.
Marco Bélair-Cirino and François Carabin
November 14, 2023
- Quebec
Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois “is not perfect.” Nevertheless: the release of Catherine Dorion in her book does not call into question her leadership, assure the three candidates for the position of co-spokesperson for Québec solidaire (QS).
Invited by Dutyto be debated as part of the race for co-leadership, Ruba Ghazal, Christine Labrie and Émilise Lessard-Therrien took turns on Tuesday to lend their support to the one they aspire to rub shoulders with at the head of the party. In her most recent book, former Taschereau MP Catherine Dorion strongly questions the ways of the former student leader as parliamentary leader of QS.
“Gabriel is not perfect. His leadership style is not perfect. When I become spokesperson, you will tell me that I am not perfect. It’s impossible,” agreed Mercier MP Ruba Ghazal on Tuesday, before recalling that “GND” has faced a lot of “pressure” since taking office as parliamentary leader at the age of 31. /p>
“He’s on a journey, and that’s completely normal,” said the supportive elected official.
Also questioned on this subject, the MP for Sherbrooke, Christine Labrie, who worked closely with Mr. Nadeau-Dubois as parliamentary leader during the last mandate, reiterated that her colleague had never been “perfect”. “We’re all doing our best. We all have the constant concern to disappoint as few people as possible, to live up to the trust that people have in us, she said. We all make blunders in this, and then mistakes. »
Never mind, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois is “definitely” the right person for the job. “As you see, there’s a rush to work with him! » said Ms. Labrie.
A “warning”
GND may have “the courage to act”, but he must listen to the “warning” launched by Ms. Dorion in her book, Les têtes brûlés. Notebooks of punk hope, according to the third candidate in the race for QS co-spokeswoman, Émilise Lessard-Therrien.
The former member for Rouyn-Noranda–Témiscamingue invites her to pay attention to the dangers of the institution that is the National Assembly. “Catherine warns us against a potential risk: that of borrowing from the practices and culture of this institution, in which we are locked up and which is very toxic, at times,” she said. /p>
Christine Labrie also hopes that the exit of the artist who became an MP will lead QS “to ask questions about how to grow the left in Quebec”. She says she is surprised by “the extent of the distress” felt in the last mandate by Ms. Dorion.
“I still have a great feeling of sadness,” she said on Tuesday. Because she is a colleague that I appreciated, and still appreciate enormously. I wish I had been there for her more than I was. »
The story that Catherine Dorion drew from her four-year mandate as MP for Taschereau “is probably part of her therapy,” says Ruba Ghazal. The Montreal elected official says she shares the same affection for Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois and Catherine Dorion. “Me, I adore Catherine, I love her, then I adore Gabriel, then I love her. Ah, it could be that we love […] two people who, perhaps, don’t get along well. Then, things happen,” she stressed.
Ms. Ghazal maintains that she “has not at all had the same experience” as Catherine Dorion. ” But not at all. »
“Power negotiations”
The former MP for Taschereau published a book of nearly 400 pages this week, in which she asks several questions about the leadership style of the co-spokespersons of Québec solidaire. First of all, that of Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois.
In a passage from the book, for example, Ms. Dorion suggests that the elected official, who became parliamentary leader of the party in 2021, had a tendency to engage in “emotional pressure and power negotiations.” Over several paragraphs, she questions her ways of doing things at the head of the party and says she caused disruption because of the place she tended to occupy in the media. “As they say in the theater: I upstage. It’s not happening,” she wrote at one point.
After refusing to make any comments during the day on Monday, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois finally spoke in the evening, in a long message posted on his social networks. “Catherine and I haven’t had the easiest relationship. It won’t surprise anyone,” he admitted. In his text, the current male co-spokesperson of QS laments not having been able to find “a path of passage” between the political vision of Ms. Dorion and his own, despite four years spent together in Parliament.
“For Catherine, the current system condemns the politician to play the role of “zombie tribune, erased, scripted, unfit to make history”. I don’t recognize my colleagues in that description,” added the supportive co-spokesperson. “Catherine had a different perspective and our disagreements were never resolved. This is a challenge faced by many parties who want to put an end to the status quo. »
In a context of plateauing in the polls, Mr. Nadeau-Dubois must submit to a vote by members in two weeks to remain the party's male co-spokesperson. As he is the only one to run for this position, the vote will have everything of a vote of confidence.
Ms. Ghazal, Labrie and Lessard-Therrien are the first elected or ex-elected members of the formation of left to comment orally on the saga involving Mr. Nadeau-Dubois and Ms. Dorion.