(Ottawa) The former Premier of Quebec and defeated candidate for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada, Jean Charest, will return to work in the private sector, but promises to continue to be involved as an activist in the formation Politics.
Posted at 10:09 a.m.
“I will remain an active activist and I will continue to defend the ideas that I have proposed to you during this leadership race,” he said Sunday in a video shared on social networks.
He called on Conservative troops to unite behind the common goal of defeating the Liberal government of Justin Trudeau in the next general election.
“The time has now come for us to come together, to be united around a common project, an economic project, but also a project to unite Canada and elect a national Conservative government,” said Mr. Charest.
The day before, he bit the dust by finishing the leadership race far behind the winner Pierre Poilievre.
The new leader, who succeeds Erin O’Toole, won with 68% of the points at stake in the first round of the preferential ballot, while Mr. Charest came second with only 16% of support.
The former Quebec premier only won a majority of points in a tiny handful of the 338 Canadian ridings. In Quebec, Mr. Poilievre won 72 of the 78 ridings.
In his video, Mr. Charest did not fail to underline the intensity of the last seven months of the leadership race which have just concluded.
” This course […] took place in an exceptional context. We are coming out of COVID-19 and we have had very difficult years. Canadians are tired, frustrated and sometimes angry. »
The defeated candidate praised all of his opponents, including Mr. Poilievre for “an aggressive campaign” and disqualified candidate Patrick Brown.