Already coveting the seat of the current Liberal MP for Saint-Henri–Sainte-Anne, Dominique Anglade, Québec solidaire (QS) and its potential candidate have “lack of elegance,” lamented Thursday the interim leader of the Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ) Marc Tanguay.
“Dominique Anglade is still a member of the constituency until 1er December and as far as I know there is no date for the by-election,” said Mr. Tanguay, during a press briefing closing three days of the official opposition’s pre-sessional caucus. The government must also set the time for the ballot by the end of May 2023.
Ms. Anglade, who resigned from her post as leader on November 7, won 36.1% of the vote in the last elections ahead of lawyer Guillaume Cliche-Rivard (27.7%). The latter has already submitted his candidacy for the solidarity nomination race to be held in anticipation of the by-election in Saint-Henri–Sainte-Anne. He wants to “pick up where he left off,” he said.
The candidate who will wear the Liberal colors in Saint-Henri—Sainte-Anne has not yet been chosen, said Marc Tanguay, earlier Thursday. “We will have the opportunity to submit an excellent candidacy,” he added later. Obviously, this is a discussion that I will have internally with the authorities of the PLQ. By December 1, the party owes “all respect” to Dominique Anglade who has “very, very well served” his constituency.
For the moment, the Parti Québécois and the Coalition avenir Québec have not yet announced a candidate for these by-elections.
“Everything must be done to keep Saint-Henri—Sainte-Anne” within the Liberal Party of Quebec, believes the new MP for Mont-Royal—Outremont, Michelle Setlakwe. After the departure of Dominique Anglade, the PLQ will have only 19 deputies in its ranks in the National Assembly. The political party had 21 people elected on October 3, but this number fell to 20 on October 27 due to the exclusion from the caucus of Marie-Claude Nichols.
A team of 20 “would be great”
Ms Setlakwe still wants the excluded MP back. “It would be great if we were a team of 20,” she said. I think our team would be even stronger with Ms. Nichols. »
On Tuesday, the MP for Vaudreuil said she wanted to wait for a new leader to rejoin the Liberal ranks. She was ejected from caucus after refusing responsibilities in Ms. Anglade’s shadow cabinet. The latter, like the new interim leader Marc Tanguay, failed to bring it back into the fold of the official opposition.
Michelle Setlakwe would have preferred to make her political debut “without controversy”, but she now wants to look ahead. Just like the rest of his team. “I want to concentrate on my job as a parliamentarian,” she said. Quebeckers expect us to fulfill our role as official opposition. »
Her enthusiasm for politics has not been affected by the turmoil of recent weeks, she said.
With Francois Carabin
Further details will follow.