(Gatineau) Some 700 members of Québec solidaire (QS) will meet at a conference this weekend in Gatineau, where they will elect a female spokesperson to replace Manon Massé.
The congress will also be an opportunity for members to debate ideas such as allowing only women or non-binary people to run in future by-elections.
The measure would be temporary, while the party carries out a global review of its statutes. It would aim to increase diversity and achieve parity within the caucus, we can read in the proposal booklet.
Members will also be asked to vote on proposals regarding the cost of living.
We propose to cap the profit margins of large grocery chains, create a universal school food program and eliminate the QST on used products and repair services.
The party also wants members to discuss five “major challenges”: climate change, the energy future, artificial intelligence, Quebec culture and the aging of the population.
This reflection will continue over the winter, to lead to proposals to be adopted during a national council in spring 2024, with a view to the general elections of 2026, it is indicated.
According to the most recent Pallas-Data poll, QS would only garner 16% of popular favor, far behind the Parti Québécois (PQ) and the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), but tied with the Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ).
The recent release of the book by former solidarity MP Catherine Dorion, in which she criticizes the parliamentary leader of QS, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, also shook the party quite a bit.
Members will have to decide whether they renew their confidence in Mr. Nadeau-Dubois, or whether they prefer to “leave the position vacant.” Both of these options will appear on their ballot.
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
The parliamentary leader of Québec solidaire, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois
“What I hope is that the delegates will give him a strong mandate, I think he deserves it,” declared the parliamentary leader of QS, Alexandre Leduc, upon his arrival at the congress on Friday.
In 2021, Mr. Nadeau-Dubois obtained a score of 94%.
The candidates for the position of female spokesperson are Christine Labrie, Émilise Lessard-Therrien and Ruba Ghazal. They will have the chance to face each other one last time during a debate on Saturday morning.
The voting results will be revealed on Sunday.
Who will win?
So far, the three women – who have very different backgrounds – have debated independence and the best way to move the party forward.
PHOTO JACQUES BOISSINOT, CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
Christine Labrie, Émilise Lessard-Therrien and Ruba Ghazal
They all note that QS is stagnating, but propose different ways to remedy it.
In the opinion of Ruba Ghazal, an HEC graduate who grew up in Laval, the party must quickly start courting the suburbs, places it has neglected for too long, she said.
Former municipal councilor and farmer Émilise Lessard-Therrien, for her part, proposes to “restore the dream” to Quebecers by making food sovereignty her priority.
And Christine Labrie was severe, calling on QS to simplify its vocabulary, to change the tone of its message and to make more concrete proposals.
The former lecturer at the University of Sherbrooke even accused her party of trying to avoid speaking out on her vision of an independent Quebec.
“All three of us put forward proposals that resonated with the members and the result, at this moment, I am not capable of guessing,” declared Ms.me Labrie in the press scrum, Friday.
Saying she is “serene”, Mme Lessard-Therrien argued that an extra-parliamentary spokesperson could spend more time in the field.
“I’m going to be a development agent, someone who will be available to the media, I’m going to do some groundwork and I hope that it will rally a lot more people,” she said.
For his part, Mme Ghazal continues to see this as a disadvantage. “If Émilise wins, it’s just that the challenge is greater, given that she is not in the National Assembly,” she warned.
Supports
Mme Labrie benefits from the support of four deputies: Alexandre Leduc (Hochelaga-Maisonneuve), Haroun Bouazzi (Maurice-Richard), Étienne Grandmont (Taschereau) and Guillaume Cliche-Rivard (Saint-Henri–Sainte-Anne).
Mme Ghazal is supported by the deputies for Jean-Lesage and Laurier-Dorion, Sol Zanetti and Andrés Fontecilla, while Mme Lessard-Therrien received the support of Rosemont MP Vincent Marissal.
Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, Manon Massé and whip Alejandra Zaga Mendez indicated that they would remain neutral until the vote.