The “pragmatic” turn proposed by the co-spokesperson of Québec solidaire Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois will be tested by internal dissensions within the party, but is not threatened, according to members of the party.
The united elected officials drank their coffee Thursday morning while accepting the harsh words of around forty members, ex-candidates – including former MP Catherine Dorion. In an open letter, they sharply criticize the “fearful left” put forward by “GND” and accuse it of avoiding answering questions about “the concentration of power in the hands of those close to it and the exodus of women linked to an unhealthy climate.
The male co-spokesperson for QS was not at the National Assembly on Thursday. Approached at the start of the question period, his former sidekick, Manon Massé, wanted to put the exit of this small group into perspective. “Gabriel, last week, started a debate. And there, when you launch a debate, it explodes everywhere and it’s healthy,” she said on Thursday.
The elected representative from Sainte-Marie–Saint-Jacques will support the Saguenay Declaration, put into play by the leadership of Québec solidaire so that the party becomes “a government party”. On Thursday, she also recalled that the document was the fruit of work carried out with the members, not against them.
“The Saguenay Declaration is a synthesis of what we heard,” she noted. “I invite our members who find that this is not quite how they experienced it when we passed through their region, to come and tell us. »
“Catherine Dorion and her supporters”
At a press conference on Thursday morning, the solidarity parliamentary leader, Alexandre Leduc, said he was “confident” of adopting the Declaration, despite the criticisms expressed in the letter. After all, the missive from “Catherine Dorion and her supporters” does not directly address the document which will be put to a vote in two weeks, at the party’s national council.
“ [Mme Dorion] had things to say about Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois that we all understood. This is not big news considering the book we all read a few weeks ago,” he stressed in English.
“But the question is whether we are going to open and revisit our program. That’s the real debate. I did not see any strong positions on this in the letter,” he continued.
The Declaration “is not something that Gabriel pulled out of his hat last week,” emphasized Mr. Leduc.
“This is a question that has been requested by the political committee for a long time. “That was something that was at stake during the women’s spokesperson race… revising our program,” he recalled. “That means it’s not a debate that appeared suddenly. »
Alongside him, MP Alejandra Zaga Mendez, former party president, agreed that the current crisis in the party was unprecedented. “This is the first time we’ve experienced this at Québec solidaire, in this way,” she said.
But the national council in May will be an opportunity to debate eye to eye, she said. “It has always been like that in Québec solidaire and in politics,” underlined Ms. Zaga Mendez, while inviting the signatories of the letter to come and debate in Jonquière.
The position of “pragmatism” promoted by Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois is not unanimously supported by the solidarity caucus. Last week, MP Vincent Marissal asked his spokesperson to explain his position. In a message on Facebook, MP Sol Zanetti expressed some unease.
“The word pragmatic has negative connotations for part of the left. I don’t want to use that term to define myself, but at the same time, I don’t want to reject it either,” he wrote. Mr. Zanetti did not speak to the media on Thursday, despite several members of his riding’s coordination committee having signed the open letter.