Race to take Anglade's seat kicks off, Quebec Solidaire first out of the gate

Québec solidaire has already lauched its bid to win the riding of Saint-Henri-Sainte-Anne as the party hopes to add a 12th member in the National Assembly in the coming months. The Montreal riding, represented by former Liberal leader Dominique Anglade since 2015, will become vacant in the coming days following the MNA's resignation.

Québec solidaire's candidate in the last election, immigration lawyer Guillaume Cliche-Rivard, will return to the ballot. He confirmed Thursday that he would run again, getting a head start on other parties, which have not yet announced a candidate. 

The by-election must be held within six months, which means by the end of May. The final choice on timing rests with Premier François Legault, who has not yet given any indication of whether he prefers a winter or spring by-election.

"The sooner, the better," said Cliche-Rivard on Thursday. On October 3, he came in a close second to the Liberal leader with 27.7 per cent of popular support. Anglade was re-elected with a majority of 2736 votes and 36 per cent of the vote. The Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) candidate came in third with 17 per cent of the vote.

Still reeling from Anglade's resignation, the Liberals are not yet ready to name her eventual successor.

At a press conference, interim Liberal Leader Marc Tanguay said that Québec solidaire was being "inelegant" by jumping into the race now, even though it has not officially begun and Anglade has not yet left office.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Nov. 17, 2022.