Losing Rouyn-Noranda — Témiscamingue at the hands of the Coalition Avenir Québec in 2022 proved to be one of the “most difficult” moments of Émilise Lessard-Therrien’s life. A year later, she received the ultimate consolation prize on Saturday: she will be the next female co-spokesperson for Québec solidaire.
This decision, taken at a conference in Gatineau this weekend, ends a three-month race to succeed Manon Massé at the head of Québec solidaire. The new co-spokesperson takes office immediately.
After distribution of votes in the second round, the former solidarity MP won by a tiny margin over Mercier’s elected official, Ruba Ghazal. She obtained 50.3% of the votes.
She will join Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, who remains co-spokesperson, even if he said on Saturday that he had considered leaving his place. The member for Gouin, who was also put to a vote this weekend — against the chair — obtained 90.1% of the support of the solidarity delegates present.
The race for co-spokesperson of QS concludes in a context of plateauing for the party. Since the start of the year, the political party has not exceeded the 17% mark in voting intentions, according to the Léger firm. At the same time, the Parti Québécois took advantage of the drop in confidence in the Coalition Avenir Québec to rise to the top of the pyramid, according to a survey by the Pallas Data agency carried out this month.
In last year’s general election, QS gained one seat, but lost some 15,000 votes compared to 2018.
Further details will follow.
To watch on video