In the midst of turmoil, elected Liberals reiterated their confidence in their leader, Dominique Anglade, on Wednesday. But two new deputies would have liked “things to go differently” between Mme Anglade and Marie-Claude Nichols, excluded last Thursday from the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ) caucus.
“We are here demonstrating [soutien à] our leader,” said Frédéric Beauchemin, QLP finance critic, during a press briefing on the economy in Montreal. About the ejection of Mme Nichols, the new deputy for Marguerite-Bourgeoys believes that “it is ‘valuable’ that it happened as it happened”.
At his side, his colleague in Bourassa-Sauvé, Madwa-Nika Cadet, pointed out that the members of the caucus of the official opposition would have “all preferred things to happen differently”. But “now it’s a bit behind us,” she added.
Since the exclusion of the MNA for Vaudreuil, Ms.me Nichols, few PLQ MPs have spoken publicly. During a press scrum on Wednesday morning, the Liberal parliamentary leader, Marc Tanguay, said he “obviously” still had confidence in Dominique Anglade.
Questioned repeatedly about the unrest within the party, Mr. Beauchemin and Mr.me Cadet repeated that they were speaking instead to address the “priorities of Quebecers”. The duo say they “not at all” feel like they were sacrificed to talk about the economy on Wednesday in order to create a diversion.
In an interview with RDI on Tuesday evening, Marie-Claude Nichols said she did not want to rejoin the Liberal caucus to avoid being the “lifeline of a leadership that gets lost in unexplained, thoughtless and hasty decisions”. Nearly 24 hours after meeting her former boss, she lamented not having received an apology from him. Dominique Anglade is no longer the right person “to be at the head of the PLQ” and is “really badly advised”, she asserted.
Elected since 2014, Mme Nichols will sit as an independent MP.
On Tuesday, Dominique Anglade said he was aware of this decision “despite the many steps taken last Friday to [lui] give a hand “. “Know that the door remains open,” she added. She believes that it is “now time for [son équipe] to devote [ses] energies to the most important issues”.
Stay focus
Despite the strong tensions in the PLQ, Mme Cadet believes that the parliamentary wing of the party will be able to exercise its function of official opposition. “We have a united caucus,” she said. And our objective, as a caucus, is precisely to play our role as controller of government action. »
Madwa-Nika Cadet believes that such turbulent times are part of politics. “We know that it’s a living environment that is very unpredictable, that comes with its vagaries, and that’s okay. In our case, we are quite excited to be able to sit on November 29 [à la reprise des travaux parlementaires] and to demonstrate the various flaws of the current government. »
Between now and the first session of the National Assembly, in three weeks, Mme Anglade will be able to solidify its leadership by talking about “issues that are priorities for all Quebecers,” according to Frédéric Beauchemin.
Due to the heavy defeat of the PLQ on October 3 – the party only won 21 seats, 10 less than in 2018 – Dominique Anglade must submit his leadership to a vote of confidence by November 2023.