The Youth Commission of the Liberal Party of Quebec is proposing a way forward to resolve the debate on the voting weight of those aged 25 and under in the election of their next leader, which some consider disproportionate.
Under the party’s new rules, adopted in 2015, young people hold 33% of the votes for the election of the next leader by popular vote. The election of the next leader will, however, be the first test of these new rules since the last party leadership race, in 2021, concluded with the coronation of Dominique Anglade.
But this significant proportion granted to the vote of those under 25 is now contested by certain activists who see it as a form of discrimination against older members and intend to contest it at the next congress of the political party scheduled for mid-November. .
The PLQ Youth Commission on Tuesday defended the weight given to its members in the party leadership race while submitting its own proposal to modify their distribution.
Rather than bringing together the vote of all young people regardless of where they come from in a sort of mega-constituency worth 33% of the vote, the Youth Commission suggests distributing it equitably across all the constituencies of Quebec.
How does the vote work to elect the next leader of the PLQ?
The system put in place for the election of the next leader of the PLQ aims to grant the same importance to the 125 constituencies of Quebec. Each of the associations representing these constituencies therefore receives 2000 points, for a total of 250,000 points. These 2000 points are allocated to candidates according to the percentage of votes from members aged 26 and over that they receive. At the same time, 125,000 points are granted to members aged 25 and under, regardless of their constituency, which are distributed among the candidates according to the percentage of votes they receive among young people. In other words, their vote is equivalent to a single constituency worth 33% of the votes.
“Make them young”
One way to prevent the fact that young people are mainly concentrated in the city given that the majority of higher education establishments are located there, indicates the president of the Youth Commission, Christian-Alex Deschênes. “Young people from the regions should have as much weight as young people from Montreal,” he argues.
“The idea […] it is to seek out an activist base within the regions. It will also force candidates for leadership to mobilize young people in the region, it will provide us with a whole new activist base,” he also argues.
Without “prejudging” the proposal of activists who wish to reduce the weight of the youth vote, the interim leader of the Liberal Party of Quebec, Marc Tanguay, judged that this debate sent a “very clear” message to the leadership candidates: “make some young members”.
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
The interim leader of the Quebec Liberal Party, Marc Tanguay
However, he did not want to get involved when questioned about the Youth Commission’s proposal. “It is not my vocation to say: I am for this or that approach. It will progress within the authorities and our members will decide. One thing is certain, I reiterate the central importance of young people within the Liberal Party of Quebec.”
The PLQ leadership race will be officially launched in mid-January. The members’ vote will take place next spring over a period of six days, between June 9 and June 14, the day when a management conference will be held in Quebec.