Last November, two days before the congress which would elect her female spokesperson for Québec solidaire (QS), Émilise Lessard-Therrien congratulated her ex-colleague Catherine Dorion, who had seriously damaged the leadership of Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, and she had promised to fight in her turn “wherever power is centralized and verticalized”.
Obviously, she had underestimated the difficulty of the mission she had given herself. Her distress is painful to see, but it is a little surprising that she has only just discovered the miseries of life in QS, having been there for years.
The “small, tightly knit team of professionals” surrounding GND was already in place when she was MP for Rouyn-Noranda–Témiscamingue, and he himself does not give the impression of having changed much since then. Such a hasty resignation can only be surprising, after the tenacity she had demonstrated in her fight against the Horne foundry.
QS is not the only party where activists complain about the authority exercised by “the leader’s entourage”, the “national” or, even worse, the “prime minister’s office”. Either way, we have never heard the slightest murmur at the Coalition Avenir Québec – perhaps that will come – but protest was once commonplace in the Parti Québécois (PQ). We have even seen the Liberals balk on occasion.
However, no one has disputed the need to have a real leader who has the last word. We can always overthrow it, but it is to replace it with another. QS has given itself a structure which aims precisely to ensure that there is none, the two “spokespersons” in some way neutralizing each other. If GND has the title of “leader of the second opposition group”, it is simply because the rules of the National Assembly require it.
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At the end of the Gatineau conference, one word was on everyone’s lips. Seventeen years after its creation, QS had made the shift towards “pragmatism”. After the painful episode of “orange taxes”, GND wanted to see proof of this in the adoption of a resolution aimed at exempting used vehicles from the QST, despite the pollution they generate.
It was premature to conclude that QS would sacrifice its original purity to get closer to power. Like Émilise Lessard-Therrien, many supporters refuse to allow their social project “to be erased by the usual compromises, image calculations and voting indicators”, which are the prerogative of the old parties and of the old policy, from which QS promised to deliver Quebec.
The mission she had given herself was, on the contrary, “to breathe new life into the party, or finally, a breath that it had before, to bring in the fresh air of the country, which smells good of spruce, the wet earth and the salty breeze of the river.” We can understand that she had difficulty sharing this poetic approach with these professionals surrounding GND, who would dehumanize politics.
It is a commonplace to say that QS must leave the island of Montreal. The way things are going, however, preserving what has been achieved risks becoming the priority. Mme Lessard-Therrien refuses to be “trailing what is winnable in the short term”, but those who managed to keep their seat will always believe that one is better than two.
It is not surprising that the PQ gives more space – and offers better treatment – to the former member of Gaspé Méganne Perry Mélançon. Without the regions, he would have been wiped off the map, and they could bring him back to power.
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After 24 hours of reflection, GND returned to the National Assembly, but it put its cards on the table. It will remain, on the condition that QS clearly becomes “a government party”. When he says that the structure must be less heavy, this means that we must give it greater room for maneuver.
Activists will now have to decide whether their conception of political action is compatible with his. He has made important compromises in the past, whether it be rapprochement with the PQ or secularism, but he now intends to have the room for maneuver of a true leader, even if he is not necessarily keen on title. This time it’s make or break. The risk of bursting is very real.
Ideas may rule the world, but in a democratic system, voters must be convinced of their rightness. GND is no more unanimous outside than within the party, but he remains the best ball carrier for QS until further notice. Even though the result of the October 2022 elections caused enormous disappointment, the MPs who lined up behind it know this very well.