(Victoriaville) The next leader of the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ) will not necessarily be bound by the recommendations of the party’s revival committee.
This was suggested by the co-chair of the recovery committee, MP Madwa-Nika Cadet.
On the eve of the PLQ general council in Victoriaville, Ms.me Cadet was called upon to confirm whether the future leader of the PLQ will be bound by the conclusions and recommendations of the committee’s report.
“The work we’re doing is part of the equation, part of the puzzle of reviving the party,” she said in an interview with The Canadian Press on Friday.
“Obviously, we hope that the next leader will take seriously the work that has been done because it represents the opinion of a wide variety of activists, at least that is what we hope. »
However, it is considerable substantive work that awaits the relaunch committee made up of eight representatives, even if a future leader could distance himself from the stated conclusions.
The committee was set up at the end of March to suggest possible solutions following the party’s debacle in the October 2022 elections. It will seek to determine the place of the PLQ on the political spectrum; what does it mean to be liberal; how to respond to the aspirations of Quebecers.
The report of the recovery committee will be submitted to a next general council scheduled for the fall of this year.
“The activists are thirsty for reflection and are very enthusiastic about the work that has begun,” said Mr.me Cadet. She receives large amounts of emails and social media messages from people interested in contributing.
Militant life within the PLQ has been in constant decline over the past decade and the number of members, at 15,000, is at an all-time low.
In an open letter published in The Press Friday, the former president of the political commission of the PLQ, Jérôme Turcotte, now declares himself a “political orphan” and says he feels “in exile”, isolated when he emphasizes the importance of “the affirmation of Quebec”.
“There are two choices before us, it’s to work on it, like the hundreds of activists who will be in Victoriaville this weekend with me, then with our elected officials, or we abandon ship, like Mr. Turcotte” , criticized the deputy for Pontiac, André Fortin, in a press scrum at the National Assembly on Friday.
leadership race
The official rules for the leadership contest are not expected to be known until the end of the year, or even the start of 2024. However, an unofficial contest should already be noticeable at Saturday’s General Council.
According to Mr. Fortin, expected to be in the ranks, there is no rush to give the starting shot.
“The discussions I have with activists are not about the timing of the leadership race, they are about the ideas they want the Liberal Party of Quebec to carry during the next election campaign”, a- he said.
The deputies of Nelligan, Monsef Derraji, and Marguerite-Bourgeoys, Frédéric Beauchemin, are also expected to be in the running. The name of the current interim chief, Marc Tanguay, is also circulating.
No candidate from outside the party has yet clearly emerged.