(Quebec) A former strategist of former Prime Minister Philippe Couillard and Liberal leader Dominique Anglade, Charles Robert, is running for Jean-Lesage in Quebec, has learned The Press. According to the principal concerned, his jump is “totally connected with the continuation of [s]political commitment”.
Posted yesterday at 3:17 p.m.
“Right now, what I want is to be the deputy for Jean-Lesage; that’s my goal,” Mr. Robert said. After having gravitated more than fifteen years behind the scenes of the political world, the one who was until very recently deputy chief of staff of Dominique Anglade believes that he is ripe for a new challenge.
His candidacy for the Liberal Party of Quebec will be confirmed this Wednesday by the leader during a press conference in Quebec.
“The county offices of a deputy are often the last solution for a citizen,” relates the former director of media relations for Philippe Couillard. He also worked in the cabinets of former ministers Laurent Lessard and Lise Thériault. “I need to get that back, I need to go work with the world,” he added.
Charles Robert has temporarily withdrawn from his duties in the cabinet of Mr.me Anglade in September 2021 for health reasons. It was when he returned to his post on August 8 that the Liberal Party of Quebec asked him to stand as a candidate in the greater Quebec City region, he told The Press.
He focused his choice on Jean-Lesage, a riding yet far from being won over to the Liberals who would currently take fifth place, according to the Qc125 projection site. Jean-Lesage has belonged since 2018 to Sol Zanetti, of Quebec solidaire, who is seeking a second term.
Still according to Qc125, the battle could well be played out between Québec solidaire and the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ), which obtain 34% and 33% of the voting intentions, as of August 12. The Conservative Party of Quebec harvests 16%. “We have never been good in the polls and we have served four terms”, relativizes Mr. Robert.
“The job I want to do is to rally the Jean-Lesage Liberals to tell them that the only party that can stand up to the CAQ is not Québec solidaire, it’s the Liberal Party. I won’t imagine that the job is easy, it’s never easy. These challenges, you have to take them head on,” continues the new Liberal candidate.
Jean-Lesage was in the fold of the Liberal Party of Quebec from 2003 to 2007, then from 2008 to 2018. Charles Robert also says he is “close” to André Drolet, who was Liberal MP for Jean-Lesage for 10 years. .
Charles Robert left the political sphere for an interlude of about a year after the defeat of Philippe Couillard to become a lobbyist for the firm Lévesque Strategies in 2019, according to his LinkedIn account. He was an advisor to Philippe Couillard from 2012 to 2018.
For its part, the CAQ is again betting on Christiane Gamache, a candidate from the world of education, to delight Jean-Lesage from the solidarity. The Parti Québécois has confidence in the entrepreneur Michaël Potvin and the Conservative Party of Quebec (PCQ), in Denise Peter, former candidate of Quebec 21 at the municipal level and current president of the PCQ.