(Saint-Hyacinthe) The race to succeed Manon Massé has not yet officially started, but Sherbrooke MNA Christine Labrie already has a strong lead in support within the Québec solidaire caucus, with four elected. MP Sol Zanetti lines up behind Ruba Ghazal.
Elected officials Guillaume Cliche-Rivard, Étienne Grandmont, Haroun Bouazzi and parliamentary leader Alexandre Leduc all lined up behind the one they describe as a “unifier”.
Mr. Leduc’s decision to take a position in this race while he is an officer may come as a surprise. “I am not bound by neutrality. In my role as leader, I will keep myself a little embarrassed to campaign, I will remain calm, ”said Mr. Leduc. He praised his “unifying and unifying” side. He also revealed that he was in a relationship with M.me Labrie. “She’s my sweetheart now,” he explained.
His colleague Haroun Bouazzi wanted to wait a few days before announcing his choice, but he ended up dropping that he was also lining up behind Mr.me Labrie. “He is someone who works hard, who masters his files, who listens. […] She showed in her campaign in Sherbrooke that she is capable of winning with panache,” he said.
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Québec solidaire MPs Haroun Bouazzi and Christine Labrie
He believes that M.me Labrie reaches all generations, and that it will allow Québec solidaire to go “further” and expand.
Mme Labrie therefore has the support of four deputies, out of the seven who will take a position in this race.
Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, Manon Massé and Alejandra Zaga Mendez will not take a position. Other chosen ones will choose their sides in the next hours, or days.
Ghazal, “uninhibited independence leader”
PHOTO CHRISTINNE MUSCHI, CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
Quebec Solidarity MNA Ruba Ghazal
The other candidates to succeed Manon Massé, which will be determined at a congress next November, are MP Ruba Ghazal, who wants to talk about independence and “more progressive and inclusive left-wing nationalism”, as well as the former MP for Rouyn-Noranda–Témiscamingue, Émilise Lessard-Therrien. The latter was defeated in the general election of 2022 and argued that she comes from a region which would allow her to seek the ear of rural Quebec.
It is not the elected members of the caucus who will choose the woman who will play the role of co-spokesperson for Québec solidaire, but delegates chosen by the members of the party. But they will be able to play a role in campaigning for their favorite candidate.
Ruba Ghazal obtained the support of the deputy for Jean-Lesage Sol Zanetti, and of the ex-candidate of QS in Marie-Victorin, Shophika Vaithyanathasarma. Mr. Zanetti made this choice because Mr.me Ghazal would be, according to him, an “uninhibited independence leader”.
The mayor of Sainte-Camille and defeated candidate for Québec solidaire in Richmond in 2022, Philippe Pagé, is also in the camp of Émilise Lessard-Therrien, who stands out, according to him, for her “fine knowledge of the territory of the Quebec”.