Dominique Anglade and the QLP | A toxic partisan culture for women

The resignation, not so surprising as that, of Dominique Anglade from her posts as leader of the Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ) and as a Member of Parliament clearly reflects the state of decrepitude of a party that prefers to tear each other apart in public rather than to do the introspection necessary for its renewal and survival.

Posted at 10:00 a.m.

Yolande Cohen

Yolande Cohen
Historian, University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM)

Pathetic to see how much we prefer to throw the stone at the leader, rather than watching how the party came to scuttle itself! Who had not understood that she held at arm’s length a party that had become bloodless, left by all the caciques who sulked in their corner, and who had no harsh enough words towards the one who was never part of their gang!

This boy clubdubbed by all as éminences grises of the party, has never accepted that a woman, from the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) in addition, can lead the PLQ!

So suddenly, the coffers were empty, there was no one left to campaign: the party, this machine for electing its candidates, no longer worked. In this willful blindness, and while she was trying to save the day after this historic defeat of the PLQ, she had to face a torrent of criticism for her decisions, which were said to be inappropriate. Is there a leader of a party to whom an MP dictates how he should allocate his meager resources? No, but there is a leader of a diminished party, who has to give her mea culpa to a deputy who wanted a job and who did not get it!

As we can see, this inequality of treatment between women and men is patent in the PLQ, and more generally in politics. However, no one talks about it, and everyone acts as if this problem of gender equality has been resolved: there are women in politics, what are we complaining about?

However, the resignation of Dominique Anglade from her post as party leader bears witness, on the contrary, to the pitfalls she had to face in order to remain in this position, and to the bad trials she had to undergo throughout her mandate and during the electoral campaign, on the part of its own troops. Today we highlight her courage and her determination, which are indeed exceptional, for this woman who left everything aside to defend a party that has never ceased to put a spoke in her wheels.

Moreover, the PLQ, or what is left of it, prefers to scuttle itself and possibly lose its status by losing its leader and the position she had finally obtained as leader of the official opposition, rather than accepting its decisions. and proceed with it to the necessary work of rebuilding the party after its defeat in the last elections.

Faced with such a debacle, how can we believe the political parties that speak of fairness and justice? Who are the women who will want to get into politics? How to ensure more equality between women and men in politics? With his resignation, these issues become urgent and can no longer be swept under the rug. The future of our democracy depends on it.


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