Even if no one at Québec solidaire (QS) is delighted with the resignation of Manon Massé as female co-spokesperson, her departure comes at the right time. The party will be able to relaunch debates that have become as delicate as necessary.
Leaving is a difficult art, and Mme Massé succeeded. She’s giving her colleagues time to get going this spring and campaign over the summer before the vote in Congress in November. And the transition is smooth, because she remains a deputy.
Her successor will have three years to leave her mark on the party and influence the next electoral platform.
Who will take over? It was not Tuesday that the contenders were going to show up. “It’s Manon’s day,” replied MPs Ruba Ghazal (Mercier), Christine Labrie (Sherbrooke) and former MP Émilise Lessard-Therrien (Rouyn-Noranda–Témiscamingue).
If they make the jump, they will have a head start. No other equals their experience and notoriety.
The 2022 elections have disappointed. The party only elected one more deputy. And for the first time, QS fell in the national vote (from 16.10% to 15.43%). Worse, the symbolic seat of Rouyn-Noranda has been lost. The party also remains very Montreal-based – 9 of its 12 deputies come from the island.
According to the most recent Léger poll conducted in May, QS is first among 18-34 year olds (38%), second among 35-54 year olds (18%) and last among those 55 and over (5%).
In the last campaign, the proposal to tax “wealth” from 1 million dollars betrayed a lack of knowledge of the situation of retirees.
To drill in the region, QS will have to turn over all the stones.
For example, should we still oppose the monopoly of the UPA in agriculture? Can we get closer to small entrepreneurs, who are also often from the “ordinary world”?
For some members, the temptation of ideological purity remains. But others must want to change things outside of their heads.
At QS, the debates usually follow the same dynamic: the parliamentary wing defends a position that takes into account practical constraints, activists want to go further and then the members vote.
With a race, it would be different. Visions would clash inside the caucus.
Should the party continue its refocusing? Get closer to the suburbs and regions, to older people and small entrepreneurs? Put aside the perilous nationalizations? And how to reconcile the defense of minorities with the protection of the language?
The candidates might not get along.
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Ruba Ghazal, MP for Mercier
Mme Ghazal was in favor of the old Bouchard-Taylor compromise on the wearing of religious symbols before her party rejected it in 2019. A Palestinian refugee born in Lebanon, she said then that she felt affected by attacks against Muslims while understanding a certain “malaise” of Quebecers in the face of religion.
She represents both the diversity and the moderately nationalist current of QS. Spokesperson for the French language, she played an important role in the united vote in favor of the CAQ reform of Law 101. Activists did not appreciate it.
Mme Ghazal would help woo inclusive nationalists, but she has the disadvantage of being the Plateau Mont-Royal MP and GND’s neighbor. Not the best business card in the region.
Mme Labrie previously held the strategic role of House Leader. Studious, she can be incisive without raising her voice. She has distinguished herself as a critic of education.
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Christine Labrie, MNA for Sherbrooke, in the field during the last election campaign
When she carried the important file at QS for the status of women, a bit like Françoise David did, she was able to work behind the scenes with her opponents with the non-partisan committee on sexual violence. This file is now the responsibility of Mr.me Ghazal.
MNA for Sherbrooke, Mme Labrie represents a university town, but it also symbolizes one of the rare breakthroughs outside of Montreal.
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Émilise Lessard-Therrien (on the right) and the co-founders of Québec solidaire Amir Khadir and Françoise David during the swearing-in of the deputies of Québec solidaire, on October 19
To find a rural voice, however, you have to look elsewhere. The only regional seat ever won by the party was the one held by M.me Lessard-Therrien. But she no longer has a seat, which deprives her of visibility, and she defended less publicized files. At 31, she is younger than Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois.
This is the last element to consider: the balance between the two spokespersons. Françoise David embodied a more communitarian and consensual left, while Amir Khadir was impetuous and rebellious. They made a pair.
GND is trying to popularize its intellectual approach. A former student leader, he is close to young people. Mme Massé is issued as Mme David from the community, but she comes from a much more modest family. On Tuesday, she held back a tear talking about people in her constituency skipping meals and it was not theater.
This emotion and this field approach will not be easy to replace. But his departure makes it possible to open the reflection to find a personality complementary to that of GND, and to widen the still modest base of solidarity voters.
With the Parti Québécois on the rise and the Liberals who will also soon be launching a leadership race, those in solidarity have no choice but to change gears.