(Quebec) Former QS candidate in Bourassa-Sauvé, Alejandra Zaga Mendez, was elected president by acclamation on Sunday.
Mme Zaga Mendez is an expert in the field of the environment; in particular, she has a doctorate in sustainable development and conservation.
She replaces Nika Deslauriers, who bowed out on Sunday after having worked for five years as president. Former deputy Amir Khadir paid him a heartfelt tribute.
He recalled QS’s difficult start 15 years ago, pointing out that Mr.me Deslauriers had been at his side to “build the echelons” and wage “all wars”.
Mr. Khadir thanked Mme Deslauriers for his “dedication and self-sacrifice”, which will ultimately have helped the party, according to him, to “burst” into the National Assembly in 2018.
QS currently has 10 deputies in parliament.
On his Facebook page, Mme Zaga Mendez promised to be a president “on the ground, being the pivot between our militant forces, the party leadership and parliamentary work”.
She is committed to “making our project shine and leading the biggest electoral campaign in our history in 2022” in addition to ensuring that QS will “always be at the front of climate struggles”.
A public inquiry into CHSLD management called for
The delegates of Québec solidaire (QS) also unanimously adopted on Sunday an emergency proposal calling for the holding of a public inquiry into the management of the pandemic in CHSLDs.
The proposers, Jocelyn Ann Campbell and Patricia Alexander, said they were troubled by what they learned at the coroner’s inquest into the deaths that occurred in CHSLDs during the first wave.
According to Mme Campbell, the top executives just “passed the buck.” She believes that the coroner’s inquest only lifts “part of the veil” and that there are still several “gray areas”.
QS parliamentary leader Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois invited members to vote in favor of this proposal, which he said sends a clear message to François Legault’s government.
He said the emergency proposal was an additional “tool” for QS deputies, who will “carry this mandate” and “put the package on this issue” in the National Assembly.
“We will not let it go like that,” he said.
The emergency proposal denounces “serious shortcomings and inconsistencies in the health network”.
She says seniors and their families have been “the victims of neglect and inaction in health care and living conditions during the pandemic.” The real causes of the mismanagement of the pandemic in CHSLDs must be the subject of an in-depth examination with a view to remedying them in the future, we can read.