The chief organizer of the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ), Jean-François Helms, announced his departure on Saturday after a difficult week for the political formation marked by the exclusion from the caucus of MP Marie-Claude Nichols.
Posted at 3:05 p.m.
In a message sent to party members, Jean-François Helms specified that he would end his mandate by writing a “detailed” report of the electoral campaign based on the reports of all the candidates, before giving up his place. .
“As chief organizer, I must ensure that the efforts of each candidate and each campaign team will not have been in vain. Out of respect for all those who went to the front for us, we have a duty to learn from their experiences in order to improve ourselves,” he explains.
He also urges “with all his heart” the members of the PLQ “to remain united” while wishing them to “renew themselves” in order to come back “stronger than ever in 4 years”.
“Together, we overcame several daunting challenges; a great digital transition to many modern electoral tools. In addition, when I arrived, we had to build a new internal team and resuscitate local and regional organizations that had been dormant since the pandemic,” he also claims.
Formerly Advisor
Organizer of the campaign for the leadership of the PLQ of the defeated candidate Raymond Bachand in 2013, Jean-François Helms was also responsible for that of the current head of political training, Dominque Anglade. He had previously been a political adviser in various ministerial offices of the Couillard government.
During the last campaign, along with other members of the PLQ executive, he was reproached by a defeated candidate for the nomination in the riding of Chomedey for having turned a deaf ear to his recriminations.
On October 3, the PLQ suffered the worst defeat in its history in proportion to the votes cast. Despite everything, he managed to save the furniture in terms of the number of seats with the election of 21 MNAs, more than ever concentrated in Montreal, thus retaining the title of Official Opposition.
But the party quickly experienced a first controversy at the start of its term when its leader expelled the member for Vaudreuil, Marie-Claude Nichols, from her caucus.
The decision came a few hours after the member for Vaudreuil was excluded from the new shadow cabinet of the PLQ. She had refused the responsibilities that Dominique Anglade wanted to entrust to her.
Elected since 2014, Marie-Claude Nichols coveted the position of third vice-president of the National Assembly – a position that falls to a member of the official opposition and which comes with additional compensation of $35,000 per year. .
With Tommy Chouinard, The Press