Liberal MNA Lise Thériault to leave politics at the end of her mandate

MONTREAL -

The Liberal MNA for Anjou-Louis-Riel, Lise Thériault, will not be a candidate in the next election.

Instead, her political career will come to a close at the end of her current mandate, after seven consecutive terms in office spanning two decades.

Thériault made the announcement Monday. She maintained no one in the party had asked her to step down, and that she was leaving by her own choice. Last November, however, in an interview with The Canadian Press, she said she would be a candidate in the next election.  

"I am leaving without any animosity, without any pressure from the party, without any pressure from the leader's entourage, without any pressure from my colleagues," said the MNA.

Thériault said she changed her mind upon finding Chantale Gagnon, "the rare pearl" who would succeed her. Gagnon, who was present at the press conference, will officially be the candidate of the Quebec Liberal Party (QLP) in the October 2022 election.

During the last QLP leadership race, Thériault did not endorse Anglade's candidacy, siding instead with Alexandre Cusson, unlike the vast majority of her fellow MNAs. On Parliament Hill it was an open secret that Thériault and Anglade had a strained relationship since sharing the economic dossiers in the Couillard cabinet in 2017.

Thériault, 55, has held several ministerial positions in the cabinets of Jean Charest and Philippe Couillard, including Public Safety, Labour, and Small and Medium Enterprises. While responsible for the status of women, she had been critized for saying she was not a feminist in an interview with The Canadian Press in 2016.

On Monday, she specified that she was against "revenge feminism," which she believes is quick to gang up "against men," wishing instead that men and women would work together towards positive change.

"I did not want to claim to be a revenge feminist, as we knew it in the 80s and 90s," said the MNA.

--This story was first reported in French by The Canadian Press on Aug. 30.