Two former ministers support Frédéric Beauchemin in the race for the leadership of the PLQ

Photo: Francis Vachon Le Devoir Frédéric Beauchemin, MNA for Marguerite-Bourgeoys during question period, Wednesday, at the National Assembly

Thomas Laberge – The Canadian Press in Quebec City

Published at 7:29 a.m.

• Quebec City

Aspiring Liberal leader Frédéric Beauchemin has the support of two former ministers: Kathleen Weil and Luc Blanchette. They will be in Trois-Rivières on Friday when the MP officially enters the race.

“These are people who share the same Liberal values ​​as me,” he said in an interview with The Canadian Press.

Kathleen Weil was a member of Parliament from 2008 to 2022. She was a minister in the Charest and Couillard governments. She has notably held the positions of Minister of Justice and Minister of Immigration.

Luc Blanchette was Minister of Mines and Minister of Forests, Wildlife and Parks during the reign of Philippe Couillard.

Frédéric Beauchemin also managed to obtain the support of one of his colleagues in the caucus, the MNA for Chomedey, Sona Lakhoyan Olivier.

Former Minister of Finance Carlos Leitão has already announced his support for the MNA for Marguerite-Bourgeoys.

“There is no free lunch in the life”

Frédéric Beauchemin wants to position himself as a “centre-right” candidate who will advocate better management of public finances.

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“There is no free lunch in life, we absolutely have to be good managers of the state machine so that it is representative of the aspirations of future generations,” he says.

Mr. Beauchemin maintains that he does not want to cut public services. In the same breath, he says that “each program should be revisited from time to time to ensure that we are not spending money unnecessarily.”

A lack of notoriety

The leadership will however be a challenge for Mr. Beauchemin who is not very well known to the general public. He has spent the last few months traveling around Quebec to make himself known to liberal activists.

Last October, the MP was the target of complaints of psychological harassment filed by the then president of the youth wing, Élyse Moisan. He had been excluded from the Liberal caucus. Frédéric Beauchemin was finally reinstated in December after the complaints were withdrawn following a mediation process.

The former executive and head of capital markets at Scotiabank thus becomes the fourth candidate to succeed Dominique Anglade. The other aspiring leaders are the former president and CEO of the Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec, Charles Milliard, the former mayor of Montreal Denis Coderre, and tax lawyer Marc Bélanger.

Federal Transport Minister Pablo Rodriguez is still considering his move. The Canadian Pressreported last month that Mr. Rodriguez was working behind the scenes with close associates to get into the race.

The next Liberal leader already faces many challenges: the polls are not moving in their favour, their support among francophones is famished, young people have deserted the party and he must win back the regions of Quebec.

The race officially begins in January 2025. The new Liberal leader will be chosen in the summer of that year.