(Quebec) The interim leader of the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ), Marc Tanguay, acknowledges that the crisis that has rocked the party for more than a month risks having a negative effect on the public’s perception of this party Politics.
He believes that the goal of changing this perception will be a challenge for himself and his team to overcome in the coming months.
“We must demonstrate that we are a party close to the people, in perception. This is the challenge we have,” commented Mr. Tanguay, Wednesday, in a press scrum, on the sidelines of the three-day caucus of 19 Liberal MPs, as the parliamentary session, which will begin on November 29, approaches.
He says he is “lucid with the observation of the challenge that is before us”, added the interim leader, saying he is convinced that the end of the crisis will be possible if the Liberal deputies are busy “working on files that speak to Quebecers. “.
We must “bring us back to the essence of our existence as members of the National Assembly. This is what will justify our presence, which will confirm our relevance”, according to the one who recognizes the “misguidedness” which plunged the PLQ into an unprecedented crisis.
On October 3, the PLQ suffered the worst defeat in its history. Since then, the leader of the party, Dominique Anglade, had to resign, contested from all sides, while the member for Vaudreuil, Marie-Claude Nichols, was expelled from the caucus, because she had refused the functions of spokesperson that we wanted to entrust to him. Attempts to convince her to rejoin the caucus have all failed.
The allocation of the position of 3e Vice-President of the National Assembly, whom two deputies coveted, Mme Nichols and the member for Viau, Frantz Benjamin, brought the crisis to light. Mr. Benjamin came out a winner, while the bridges are broken with Mr.me Nicholas.
On Sunday, Mr. Tanguay had tried to repair the broken pots, by proposing that the coveted position be occupied for two years by Mr.me Nichols and for two more years by Mr. Benjamin. Mme Nichols agreed, but Mr. Benjamin, who had been assured of the nomination, did not like it, threatening to quit the caucus. Mr. Tanguay backed down and rescinded the agreement previously made with Mr.me Nichols, who felt excluded a second time by her political family.
Mr. Tanguay said Wednesday that he had not contacted Mr.me Nichols since the latter reaffirmed her choice on Tuesday to now sit as an independent MP.