The solidarity race to elect Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois’s successor officially kicked off Friday.
There are currently five candidates in the running, according to the Élections Québec website. They are MNAs Sol Zanetti and Etienne Grandmont, former Regional Director of Public Health for Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine Yv Bonnier Viger, and activists Geru Schneider and Laurie Grand-Maison Lévesque.
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Under the recently updated Québec solidaire (QS) bylaws, any member—not just men—can run in this race.
In fact, QS only specifies in its internal Elections Policy that “one of the two positions is reserved for a woman.” In theory, QS could therefore have two female spokespersons, as the other position is held by MNA Ruba Ghazal.
This is why Laurie Grand-Maison Lévesque was able to file her candidacy.
Candidates must collect 500 signatures and make a $10,000 deposit by September 14 to officially be in the race.
Aspiring critics can spend up to $60,000.
If they wish to vote in the election, QS supporters will have until Oct. 9 to become party members.
Guillaume Cliche-Rivard, the MNA for Saint-Henri–Sainte-Anne, currently holds the position of interim critic.
Nadeau-Dubois’s successor will be announced on Nov. 8 at a party convention.
The outcome of this race will be crucial for QS.
The last two years have been difficult for the left-wing party, particularly with the release of former MP Catherine Dorion’s hard-hitting book and the resignation of Émilise Lessard-Therrien just months after being elected party spokesperson.
Both women criticized Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois’ leadership. He announced his departure last March, claiming to have been “worn down” by the crises that rocked his party.
QS was also rocked by the controversy sparked by Solidarity MP for Maurice-Richard, Haroun Bouazzi, who claimed that he saw “every day” in the National Assembly “the construction of this Other” whose culture “is said to be dangerous or inferior.”
The Solidarity party achieved a paltry score in the Arthabaska by-election held Monday. Candidate Pascale Fortin obtained a meager 1.5 per cent. In 2022, it managed to secure 9 per cent of the vote, surpassing the Liberals.
According to the polling aggregator Qc125, QS is in fifth place with only 10 per cent of voting intentions. If elections were held today, the political party could lose half of its seats.
The next elections will be held in October 2026.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
