The pressure will be strong, very strong, on the shoulders of Dominique Anglade when she goes up on the platform of the Quebec City Convention Center, on the evening of Friday November 26, then a second time in the morning of Sunday 28, in order to speak. in front of a few hundred liberal activists gathered in congress to hear him say that everything is still possible for the Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ).
She will not be entitled to error, faced with a great moment of truth, when her party, at the lowest in the polls, is going through a crisis with an uncertain outcome, a few months before the election deadline. In the room, expectations will be immense, even disproportionate, while behind the scenes the criticisms of the deputies towards their leader are made more and more bitter.
Many will be the liberals who will hope to get back on the road on Sunday, November 28, pumped up, galvanized, mobilized like never before, the most optimistic of them confident of still having a chance, perhaps, to regain power in October 2022 , despite the devastating polls that undermine the morale of the troops. The less optimistic, including members of the caucus, will cross their fingers, hoping that Ms. Anglade corrects the situation before it is too late.
This is what emerges from a series of interviews conducted in recent weeks by The Canadian Press with several Liberal MPs, ex-MPs and ex-ministers, activists and advisers, in an effort to take the pulse of Liberals as this event approaches, which could be decisive for the future. Anonymity was respected to allow them to speak without filter.
This will be the 34th party convention and the first in the leader’s shoes for Ms. Anglade, for whom it will be a first opportunity to interact in person with her militant base.
Everyone agrees that, in the current political context, this militant gathering, the first for a long time, will not be one like the others, being likely to have a decisive impact, both for the party and for its leader. .
This congress is of “crucial” importance, is convinced a deputy. This is for the party a “very important” event, added another. The task seems “Herculean”, recognizes another elected, while the voters deserted the party almost everywhere in Quebec, outside the great region of Montreal and the Outaouais, and that the PLQ attracts only 9% of francophones.
In the liberal ranks, it is said that the leader must absolutely on this occasion be unifying and charismatic, display extraordinary speaking skills, to rally her troops, and thus nip any dispute in the bud. This congress will be an opportunity to see “if the activists are hungry or not,” said a parliamentarian. Hunger for power, hunger to fight against the troops of François Legault.
In terms of content, “it must strike a blow”, according to a source, avoid at all costs commonplaces and vague promises to announce at least one strong, concrete idea to be included in the future platform of the party. She must present herself as a leader ready to “defend a cause”, another will say.
“Where are we going?” “
After a year and a half of Anglade rule, activists and deputies are also starting to get seriously impatient to know the face she wants to give to training. Some consider the current identity of the PLQ “too vague”, disappointed not to find “the liberal DNA” in the speech of the leader, and the values she defends. The Liberals want to know “where are we going?” », Sums up a deputy, who admits no longer recognizing her party.
Annoyed by her silence on the subject, several people interviewed insisted on demanding that the leader finally take a clear and unreserved position in favor of Quebec’s belonging to the great all Canadian. He is criticized for having taken a too nationalist turn, and we want to hear him say that the PLQ is the only party represented in the truly federalist National Assembly. Because until now, his adherence to Canadian federalism has “not been very vocal”, deplores a former minister still active within the party. “When will she be able to say that we are federalists? », Impatiently a member.
Some frowned upon hearing the chief’s positions on the language issue, believing that she had been too close to the Caquist government on Bill 96, which announces a reform of Bill 101 and includes the use of the clause. derogatory. “Among Anglophone activists, it does not work,” assures an elected, convinced that too wanting to seduce Francophones, Anglophones risk leaving the ship.
An elected representative likes to recall that Dominique Anglade has already led François Legault’s party, the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), from 2012 to 2013, concluding that “she is not a true liberal”.
A member of the parliamentary team is of the opinion that the congress will not be the only test that Dominique Anglade will have to pass, and perhaps not the main one. It is much more its ability, in the coming months, to attract valuable candidates that will make it possible to see “if it works or it breaks”.
No coup in sight
Even if the accession of Ms. Anglade to the head of the party has not moved the needle of the polls, no one, inside or outside the caucus, is questioning her leadership. Rumors of a possible putsch before the next election therefore seem far-fetched.
The party has been going through a crisis since the leader excluded MP Marie Montpetit from the caucus in early November, and removed MP Gaétan Barrette from all his parliamentary functions. Destabilized, the caucus will still have to show unfailing solidarity with its leader during Congress, believes a former close advisor to Liberal leaders. “No time to pull in the rowboat,” he said.
Except that this crisis leaves the caucus divided. If some deputies line up behind the leader, others believe that she has really mismanaged the situation, indicate internal sources.