(Drummondville) The defeated candidates of the Conservative Party of Quebec are gathered Saturday in Drummondville for an electoral report against a backdrop of internal tensions and frustration with the results of the last election.
Posted at 1:14 p.m.
Upon his arrival at the event, the head of political training, Éric Duhaime, acknowledged the disappointment of several of his colleagues with the “disappointing” results of October 3, while praising the “phenomenal growth”.
“You have to see, what worked well? How is it that we had this growth, but that it was not translated in terms of seats? We are going to refine our strategy, refine our organization”, he summarized, affirming that there would be “changes”.
Between 80 to 90 candidates responded to an invitation sent by the party to collect their suggestions and comments in connection with the party’s latest campaign, said the party’s press secretary, Cédric Lapointe.
Several media reported this week testimonies on condition of anonymity of party members dissatisfied with the performance of Éric Duhaime or his close team.
“Many things,” said the defeated candidate in the riding of La Peltrie, Stéphane Lachance, when asked what could have been done better in the Capitale-Nationale, a sign of the mood at the rally.
Remember that the PCQ failed to elect any MPs during the last election.
However, the party had high hopes of making a breakthrough in Beauce and it came very close to realizing this wish. This gave rise to a battle in Beauce-Nord between the conservative Olivier Dumais, also mayor of Saint-Lambert-de-Lauzon, and the outgoing CAQ MP Luc Provençal, who finally won with a slim lead of 202 votes.
Despite everything, the political party won 530,786 votes, or 12.91% of the total vote.
Under this outcome, the PCQ will reap at least $1.39 million in public funding each year of the next term, or $2.62 for every vote. Note that this amount is indexed each year.