Comedian and musician Pierre-Luc Brillant will be a Parti Québécois (PQ) candidate in Rosemont, Montreal, in the October 3 election, The Canadian Press has learned.
He will face the outgoing member of Quebec solidaire, Vincent Marissal.
Rosemont was a stronghold of the PQ for a long time, until Mr. Marissal ousted PQ leader Jean-François Lisée in the general election in 2018.
Born in 1978, Pierre-Luc Brillant began his screen career at an early age. He has acted in several films, including “Tirelire, Combine et compagnie”, “CRAZY”, “La Disappearance des lucioles”, and “Pas d’chicane dans ma cabin”, a film which has just been released.
He also had many roles on the small screen, whether in “Plan B”, “Nos Summers”, “L’Échappée”, “La Galère”, “District 31”, etc.
Mr. Brillant is the spouse of actress Isabelle Blais.
Mr. Brillant would not be the first actor to sit for the PQ if elected. Pierre Curzi was PQ member for Borduas from 2007 to 2011, before sitting as an independent. In addition, in 2014, the actress and director Lorraine Pintal had worn the colors of the PQ in Verdun, but had not been elected.
With the announcement of this new candidacy, the PQ ends a week of turbulence which also marks the end of parliamentary work in the National Assembly.
On Tuesday, François Legault presented his candidate in Lévis, Bernard Drainville, a former PQ minister now converted to the Coalition avenir Québec, which has revived questions about the future of the PQ.
Veterans of the PQ caucus are ending their political careers. MPs Sylvain Gaudreault, in Jonquière, Véronique Hivon, in Joliette, and Lorraine Richard, in Duplessis, have made it known that they will not run again.
In the current team, only Pascal Bérubé, in Matane-Matapédia, Joël Arseneau, in Îles-de-la-Madeleine, and Méganne Perry-Mélançon, in Gaspé, have announced that they will seek the votes in the October 3 ballot. Martin Ouellet, in René-Lévesque, must announce his decision very soon.
In 2018, Mr. Marissal was elected with 35% of the vote in Rosemont, a lead of 2,500 votes over Jean-François Lisée, who won 28% of the vote.