(Quebec) It is a shaken Quebec Solidaire (QS) caucus which continues parliamentary work Tuesday in Quebec in the absence of the male co-spokesperson, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, who is taking “time to digest the events” , affirms his team. At press briefings and in the corridors of parliament, the few supportive elected officials who agreed to answer questions recognized that their party was going through a crisis, but reiterated their support for their leader.
The member for Rosemont, Vincent Marissal, is the only elected member of the caucus who supported the resigning co-spokesperson Émilise Lessard-Therrien during the last race for co-spokesperson, which she narrowly won last November . Visibly moved, he said he assumed his share of the responsibilities in the crisis, believing that he could have intervened when he realized that something was not going well between the two spokespersons.
Should Mr. Nadeau-Dubois, absent from parliament for the day, review his ways of doing things, accused of being surrounded by an impenetrable team?
“The short answer is yes. The long answer is what are we changing? […] It adjusts every day. He is in a position that is not always easy. He has already taken note of certain changes that need to be made, I think he will make them, [et] I know there are things that need to change,” he said upon his arrival at the caucus on Tuesday noon.
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Vincent Marissal
According to Mr. Marissal, what happened is neither more nor less “a failure”. “I felt several weeks ago that she was exhausted. I even kindly advised him to take a step back for his health,” he added.
“I think we need to ask ourselves questions about what happened [et le parti] meets at the end of May. We will have the opportunity to take stock, but no one is burying their head in the sand. Nobody says it’s not serious, we turn the page and we’ll move on to another call. Well no. Something happened and it’s not something that’s good, it’s not something that’s fun,” concluded Mr. Marissal.
“The Trial of Gabriel”?
For the parliamentary leader of Québec solidaire, Alexandre Leduc, the discussions which have ignited since the surprise resignation of Émilise Lessard-Therrien resemble the “Gabriel trial”, which he denounces. Mr. Leduc also rejects out of hand that a “clique” made up of people close to the male co-spokesperson is hermetic, which is denounced by former employees and the resigning co-spokesperson in the public message which announced his departure.
“I know them all, these people, intimately, personally, even more so for two years now that I have been parliamentary leader. [Ce sont] highly competent people. I find it regrettable that in the current discussion we are looking for someone to blame at all costs. It’s like we’re playing werewolf, and then it’s who we hang tonight,” lamented Mr. Leduc.
La députée de Sherbrooke, Christine Labrie, qui a perdu la course au co-porte-parolat face à Émilise Lessard-Therrien, a ensuite affirmé que le caucus vivait un deuil face à ce qui se passait.
« Le caucus est affecté, c’est certain, par la décision d’Émilise. Plusieurs ont été pris par surprise par sa décision. On vit un deuil, en quelque sorte, quand même, parce qu’on s’était rallié tout le monde très rapidement derrière Émilise, puis envers le projet qu’elle portait. On voulait l’aider puis être ses alliés », a-t-elle dit.
Mme Labrie a ensuite vivement défendu le leadership incarné par Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois. Selon elle, le chef parlementaire et co-porte-parole masculin de QS fait de la place aux femmes dans le parti.
« Gabriel, c’est quelqu’un qui travaille avec les autres. Moi-même, je suis une femme qui travaille auprès de Gabriel, [et] When I hear people say that we don’t give enough space to women in this party, and then that they don’t have leadership within the party, that bothers me a lot. »
I feel like I have leadership in this party. It affects me that we are considered subordinates. I don’t feel like that and I find it insulting.
Christine Labrie
“If there was such a toxic climate around Gabriel, do you think there would be so many people who have been his collaborators for so many years? Personally, I find that it is the signal of someone who has strong leadership, who knows how to surround himself with competent people, but it is also someone who I know to be capable of promoting the development of his colleagues,” added Mme Labrie.
By resigning from her role as female co-spokesperson on Monday, Émilise Lessard-Therrien pointed the finger at the “small team of professionals. THE. s tightly woven” that surrounds Mr. Nadeau-Dubois, which made her feel “very alone” and with whom she had “difficult to find [son] space “. The former member for Rouyn-Noranda–Témiscamingue has not granted any interviews since she left office.
At a press briefing in Granby on Monday, the parliamentary leader and male co-spokesperson for QS, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, recognized that “the challenge was significant: making a new model work with a spokesperson not elected to the ‘National Assembly “. “It is clear that we have not succeeded in meeting this challenge collectively,” he said.