Last February, during the national council of Québec solidaire (QS), the MP for Mercier, Ruba Ghazal, declared: “Émilise is our regional reflex. We shouldn’t lose it. » At the end of the week, the activists took her at her word by preferring her ex-colleague from Rouyn-Noranda–Témiscamingue as the party’s female spokesperson.
Émilise Lessard-Therrien is undoubtedly an endearing woman whose fight against the Horne Foundry left a strong impression, although she was defeated in the elections of October 2022. Her elevation — extremely accurately — to the position of co -spokesperson nonetheless remains an essentially strategic choice.
In the same way that André Boisclair was elected leader of the Parti Québécois (PQ) in 2005 because PQ activists feared that their formation was that of a single generation, the roots of QS outside Montreal has almost become an existential question for those in solidarity. In 2022, 34 of the 47 ridings where he lost 1% or more of his vote were located in rural areas.
It may be more difficult to get Montreal out of QS than QS out of Montreal. With her F-150 and her four-wheeler, the new spokesperson certainly projects a less urban image, but above all she will have to change the mentality of the party itself: regional activists feel looked down upon by the “national », who thinks he knows everything and who allocates most of the resources to the metropolis.
While it is fortunate that Québec solidaire finally has a spokesperson who is not from Montreal, we must also note that power has never been so poorly distributed within its duumvirate. Certainly, Mme Lessard-Therrien is not the first not to be a deputy: Françoise David was elected co-spokesperson before entering the National Assembly. Butme David had at least as much, if not more, moral authority than Amir Khadir, whether within QS or the population at large.
Despite her merits, the new spokesperson does not have the same weight in the face of Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois as Manon Massé, who not only was a parliamentarian, but also had acquired over the years a stature which allowed her to act counterweight.
GND even emerged strengthened from last weekend’s congress. After the disappointing result of the last general election and the plateauing of QS’s voting intentions since then, 90% support was unexpected. Sure, it’s hard to slap someone who opens their heart to you like he did. This burst of candor came at the right time, but we must recognize that he remains by far the best candidate for the post of prime minister that QS can present.
However, he will have to be careful not to cast too much shadow on his new partner. The last thing to do would be to give the impression that the election of a spokesperson from the regions was simply an illusion.
A successful convention can have a tonic effect on a party. Thus, the solidarity activists were able to leave Gatineau on Sunday afternoon with the impression of a new beginning. The reality on the ground, however, is often different. In the weekend’s speeches, the Legault government was the target of all attacks. The Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), however, is the falling pigeon; Perhaps QS should be more interested in the rising pigeon, i.e. the PQ.
In 2022, the percentage of votes collected by Émilise Lessard-Therrien in Rouyn-Noranda–Témiscamingue decreased by only two points compared to 2018. It was the collapse of the PQ vote that allowed the CAQ candidate to win by almost 15 points ahead. And if the CAQ vote were to suffer the drop recorded by recent polls in 2026, it would likely be to the PQ that it would largely return. Transfers from the CAQ to QS are rather rare.
Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois wanted to see in the victory in the March 2023 by-election in Saint-Henri–Sainte-Anne proof that the last year was not so dark. Guillaume Cliche-Rivard, however, won this victory at the expense of the Liberal Party in a predominantly non-French-speaking riding where neither the CAQ nor the PQ had the slightest chance.
This was especially before the about-face of the Legault government on the third link and the spectacular rise of the PQ. In Jean-Talon, last October 2, it was only the PQ which benefited from the disaffection towards the CAQ: QS instead lost six points compared to 2022.
Yes, 2026 is still a long way off, but the way things are going, the new solidarity spokesperson could have a hard time convincing her party to give up its Montreal reflex in order to save the furniture.