The former MP for Vanier-Les Rivières, Patrick Huot, was named Thursday director general of the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ).
This ex-director of cabinet of the former head Dominique Anglade therefore resumes service for his political training.
Mr. Huot was known for his outspokenness at one time in the government caucus of Philippe Couillard from 2014 to 2018.
In a press release, the president of the PLQ, Rafael P. Ferraro, stressed that this was a quality appointment for the party, praising his organizational skills and his experience in politics.
Patrick Huot has been an activist in the PLQ for a long time. He was MNA for Vanier-Les Rivières, in the Quebec region, from 2008 to 2012, then from 2014 to 2018.
The choice of a general manager from Quebec is not insignificant. The PLQ was completely decapitated in the national capital as well as in the regions, during the last two general elections, in 2018 and 2022, in favor of the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) of François Legault.
In 2017, Mr. Huot, who was then a Liberal MP, had felt the wind turn and the shock to come after the CAQ victory in the complementary in Louis-Hébert (Quebec), yet a Liberal stronghold.
He then said that the PLQ had “received a nice slap in the face”. This beating was partly attributable to the consultation on systemic racism that the Liberal government of the time wanted to launch and which caused a “certain uneasiness” among Francophones, according to him.
As early as 2016, during a special meeting of elected Liberals, he wondered “how to better communicate” the government’s messages.
Moreover, in May 2018, before the general election, he had already indicated that it was “impossible” in the long term to be against the Quebec-Lévis tunnel project, a “fundamental” project, according to him – while the party is today opposed to this infrastructure project promised by the CAQ.
After his defeat at the hands of CAQ MP Mario Asselin in 2018, Mr. Huot made a brief stint at the Museum of Civilization, before becoming chief of staff to former Liberal leader Dominique Anglade from 2020 to 2021.
The oldest party represented in the National Assembly, the QLP has many challenges to meet over the next few years.
Once dominant or present in all regions, it was completely wiped off the map in the elections in 2018 and 2022 and is now relegated to its last bastions of Montreal and the Outaouais.
The latest polls suggest that he still suffers from the pronounced disaffection of French-speaking voters.
The party recently set up a committee to reflect on its revival and its identity.
A leadership contest is also due to take place and rules are expected to be released in the coming weeks.