20 years since the election of Jean Charest | Liberals ‘due for real thinking’, say ex-elected officials

The Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ) must begin a “real reflection” on its future after the “electroshock” of October 3, believe former elected Liberals who met on Saturday to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the election of Jean Charest, in Longueuil.

“This is a pivotal period for the PLQ. The party is due for some real thinking, which perhaps has not been done enough in the last four or five years. The result of the last election is an electric shock. It sent a clear signal that there is a serious reconnection to be made with the electorate, and particularly with Francophones, ”said the former deputy of Sherbrooke between 2014 and 2018, Luc Fortin.

For the man who was also Jean Charest’s communications adviser, the Liberal Party “may have been a little too canadian in its way of being federalist” in recent years. “We must take a more nationalist turn. We must remember that the PLQ has made a lot of progress for francophones throughout its history. We need only think of Jean Lesage’s “Maître chez nous”,” continued Mr. Fortin.

He salutes the work of the executive in place to “start this reconnection”, but calls for opening up horizons. “Basically, it is to take back the voters who left the PLQ to go to the CAQ. We have to find them today. Yes, we are federalists, but there are no contradictions between our pride in being Quebecers and our pride in being Canadians, ”said the former elected official.

The interim leader of the Liberals Marc Tanguay, who also traveled on Saturday, said he received these comments “in a completely positive way”.

“We have to reconnect with Francophones, with all regions of Quebec, I agree. This is the main challenge very clearly, and we are aware of it. We must also update the way we embody the liberal values ​​of economic and regional development, respect for rights and freedoms,” Mr. Tanguay acknowledged in an interview.

“Our party is 155 years old. He knew how to face ups and downs in his past, but he always knew how to reinvent himself, to update himself. Our DNA will not fundamentally change […] but indeed, the party is at a time when it must update its values, we recognize that,” Mr. Tanguay persists, saying he is “confident that we will be able to get there.”

“Evaluate if there is a place for him”

Earlier, in an interview with The Canadian Press, the former Minister of Finance of Quebec, Monique Jérôme-Forget, had also called for a deep reflection internally shortly before the event. “We live in a world of change and the PLQ, I imagine that it will assess whether there is a place for it on the Quebec scene,” she says.

The one who occupied several ministries under the leadership of Jean Charest for nine years nevertheless affirms that the PLQ still has its raison d’être. “I would be very sad if he didn’t have it, but I read a lot of foreign newspapers and I witness drastic changes vis-à-vis the wishes of citizens. »

Accepting the worst defeat in their history in proportion to the votes cast, the Liberals of Dominique Anglade managed to save the furniture in terms of number of seats on October 3. The party thus kept the title of official opposition, its members being more than ever concentrated in Montreal.

M^me Jérôme-Forget calls for “refreshing” and “defending” liberal values. “The PLQ has an overly absolutist conception of rights and freedoms,” she says.

The former Minister of Canadian Intergovernmental Affairs, Benoît Pelletier, also believes that his former political formation must “rediscover its nationalist fibers”. “I find that the PLQ has an overly absolutist conception of rights and freedoms. I think it will require a refocusing over the next few years, ”he says.

“Remembering the good times”

In April 2003, 20 years ago almost to the day, Jean Charest won a majority government with 76 members of the National Assembly. The Liberals then won the election with 46% of the vote against the Parti Québécois (PQ) and the Action Démocratique du Québec (ADQ).

“It is this government that has allowed Quebec to make a number of advances. We owe him the Generations Fund, the carbon exchanges, the QPIP. These are three achievements that mean a lot to me,” said Marc Tanguay.

Several hundred people were expected on Saturday to commemorate the rise to power of Jean Charest. The Liberal Party said Saturday that 14 of the 19 Liberal caucus MPs will make the trip. A speech by Mr. Charest was planned, far from the cameras and the media, who were not allowed to attend.

The Charest reign had ended abruptly with the maple spring. The increase in tuition fees decreed by the Liberals triggered a major mobilization that ended in the defeat of the Liberals and the victory of the PQ in 2012.

With Thomas Laberge, The Canadian Press