CAQ member Joelle Boutin quits politics, setting stage for byelection faceoff with PQ

Newly elected government MNA Joelle Boutin speaks as the legislature resumes on Tuesday, February 4, 2020, at the Quebec legislature in Quebec City. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot

Quebec City -

A member of the governing Coalition Avenir Québec party is quitting politics to take on a job in the private sector.

The departure of Joëlle Boutin sets the stage for a byelection in Quebec City, where the Parti Quebecois is newly resurgent.

The PQ, which won three seats in the last election, received 30 per cent support in the Quebec City area in a Leger poll taken in mid-June, good for first place and three points higher than the CAQ.

Boutin, 43, was first elected in a byelection in December 2019, capturing the once-Liberal stronghold of Jean-Talon for the CAQ.

She was re-elected in 2022 when the CAQ swept to power capturing 90 of the province's 125 seats.

Boutin, who held the role of parliamentary assistant to the energy minister, says she will step down at the end of the month and take a job in the private sector.

According to Quebec election rules, a byelection must be called within six months of the vacancy.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 19, 2023.