Race for co-leadership of Québec solidaire | Climate proposals have alienated the electorate, according to Labrie

(Trois-Rivières) Repulsive political proposals partly explain the capping of Québec solidaire (QS), according to MP Christine Labrie. The stagnation of the party’s support was at the center of the debates between the three candidates for co-leadership of the party on Sunday.

“People are aware that we must fight against climate change, but they feel judged by our speech, they have the impression that we will alter their quality of life […]. This is particularly true outside of large urban centers,” said the member for Sherbrooke during this debate of more than an hour which was held in front of nearly 200 activists in Trois-Rivières on Sunday.

On this question, M^me Labrie firmly believes that QS’s speech created a feeling of revulsion for citizens of the regions and suburbs. “We almost point the finger at them as people who do not participate,” she lamented.

She was scathing about other aspects of the party. She asks members to move away from the image of “cloud shovelers” and to avoid putting forward or better popularizing complex proposals or technical jargon, such as land trusts, which are not understood by the majority of voters. “We need to talk more about just transition […]but apart from union delegates and the rest of us, there aren’t many people for whom it means anything,” she said.

On sovereignty, M^me Labrie considers it unacceptable that QS accepts that half of its supporters are not independentists. “We would never accept a survey which says that half of the members call themselves feminists. Why do we accept that this is the case for independence? ”, she asked herself. She also believes that the party is hiding behind its “constituent assembly” project – a “loophole” – to avoid defining its country project.

But she is not the only one to fear the stagnation of the party’s support. Émilise Lessard-Therrien says she is “greatly concerned about our ceiling”, and Ruba Ghazal has tabled a plan to grow the party’s electorate.

Ghazal relies on experience

M^me Ghazal, for her part, is banking on independence, on her experience – she will be close to fifty in 2026 – and on her long-standing activism within QS and puts forward her plan to seek more support among workers and in the suburbs.

She pointed out that when she participates in activist meetings across Quebec, there are many CEGEP and university professors, but shop workers are absent. Nonsense for the “workers’ party”, she lamented. “These people don’t vote for us. We will have to create a dialogue with them,” she stressed.

She suggests leaving the “parliamentary bubble” by doing as many regional tours as possible, but she warns party activists against the idea of ​​choosing Émilise Lessard-Therrien. A co-spokesperson who is not elected to the National Assembly will have less media reach than her male colleague, even though Québec solidaire has twice as many men as women in its caucus, said Ms.^me Ghazal.

The MP for Mercier, the former stronghold of Amir Khadir, submitted several proposals to make more room for the regions, particularly in party bodies.

A spokesperson for the regions

But the Montreal elected official faces a common front on this issue: M^me Lessard-Therrien and M^me Labrie both believe that the next spokesperson must come from outside the metropolis. “For people to listen to us, we have to remove the label of being a Montreal party. It won’t solve everything, but it’s essential,” said M^me Labrie.

For her part, Émilise Lessard-Therrien played the rural card and argued that she is the only one who knows the reality of remote regions well. She would thus act as a counterweight to Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, an urban deputy. With the departure of M^me Massé, she believes that we must not forget to “put the dream back at the heart of the discourse of Québec solidaire”.

She believes that activists must ask themselves “who will bring Quebec Solidaire out of the ceiling” and which candidate will be capable of ensuring the growth of the party. She argues that as a former member of Parliament for Rouyn-Noranda–Témiscamingue, she will be able to achieve this.