Despite criticism from activists for its position on Amira Elghawaby and the oath to the king on Sunday, Québec solidaire (QS) calls its weekend national council a “success”. Concluded without “heartbreaks”, it will serve as a basis for bridging the breach between the party and the regions, according to co-spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois.
“I read some columnists, some analysts who, at the end of last week, told us: “be careful, this will be the scene of great heartbreaks. I read those comments with a smirk, and what I see is that it didn’t happen, ”said Mr. Nadeau-Dubois at the end of the annual activist rally, Sunday, in Montreal. .
The statutes of Québec solidaire stipulate that after each general election, the executive must draw up a report on the campaign. Presented to delegates and journalists on Saturday, it was then debated behind closed doors.
A key finding emerged: the party is slow to establish itself outside of Montreal. He even loses feathers in a host of regional constituencies. In its report, QS notes that of the 47 constituencies where it lost at least one percentage point between 2018 and 2022, 34 were said to be “rural”. He also let the riding of Rouyn-Noranda-Témiscamingue slip through his fingers, a “humiliating” defeat in the eyes of Émilise Lessard-Therrien, who previously held that seat.
Quebec tour
To avoid the errors that prevented it from progressing in the election last October, the party decided to hit the roads of Quebec. Delegates gathered over the weekend supported a proposal to set up a “mobilization and consultation tour” outside the cities. The goal: to go see the voters of the regions to understand what puts them off at Québec solidaire.
“It is a testimony that I have often heard: people who told us that they liked us in the opposition […], but still hesitate to give us a chance,” said Mr. Nadeau-Dubois during a press scrum on Sunday. “The objective of this tour, one of the objectives, is to go and meet these people and tell them: ‘what could we do better?’ »
In a press briefing on Saturday, the solidarity co-spokesperson had assured that the party was not starting this tour “to go to steppettes” in the region. Gouin’s elected official agrees that some of the measures proposed during the campaign may have missed the target outside major urban centers. In particular, he undertakes to “improve” the tax on the purchase of gasoline vehicles that François Legault had given the title of “orange taxes”.
“The famous exception for farmers [dans la proposition d’impôt sur les grandes fortunes], from a communication point of view, it was not optimal. The complexity of these proposals [taxes et impôts] lent flank to all kinds of attacks”, agreed “GND” on Sunday.
“There may also be absences in our program. I think that in the regions, there are a lot of people who want to hear about the decentralization of the Quebec state, of its services, particularly in the area of health. […] Have we talked about it enough? Not sure,” he added.
Critics
True to form, the Québec solidaire delegates did not leave the national council without having debated. On Saturday, they decided after several exchanges to allow the executive to “impose female candidates”.
Arrested on Sunday by an activist according to whom QS “tried to please everyone” and “ended up not pleasing anyone” by asking for the departure of the Federal Councilor for the fight against Islamophobia, Amira Elghawaby, the co- spokesperson Manon Massé justified the actions of her party: “The words she [Mme Elghawaby] held on, we didn’t agree with that,” she said.
Another delegate, Raphaël Simard, went to the microphone on Sunday to denounce that the party had reduced itself “to being in the shadow of the Parti Québécois” by agreeing to take the oath of allegiance to King Charles III even if he wanted the abolish. The oath was made optional this fall, allowing PQ MPs to sit without taking it.
QS activists will meet again in the national council in May to revise the party’s statutes. A congress, where a vote on the co-spokespersons will take place, is also planned for this fall.