QUEBEC CITY -- The president of the ruling Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) party, Sarah Beaumier, said there is room for dissent within the party.

However, she herself is reluctant to take a stand on the CAQ's mega-project to build a third road link under the St. Lawrence River between Quebec City and Levis.

She said discussing her personal position is not "relevant."

"I think that if the government has decided that it is the right thing to do. Well, I'm behind the government," she said.

When she took office last year, Beaumier said she wanted to "reinvigorate the democratic life" of the CAQ, saying she saw serious "shortcomings."

In an interview with La Presse, she suggested that the party needed to be more responsive, as activists often felt they were being presented with a fait accompli.

Joined in Europe where she was on a business trip this week (she works for an electric car company), Beaumier said that changes have been made.

The former candidate in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve in 2018 congratulated in particular the elected CAQ officials for having recently held a series of virtual meetings with their fellow citizens.

She also highlighted all the work that has been done ahead of the general council meeting this weekend to arrive at the 50 or so resolutions that will be submitted for vote.

The event, which will be held in Trois-Rivières in hybrid format on Saturday and Sunday, will bring together several hundred members of the CAQ.

"Everyone has the right to speak," said Beaumier. "Everyone had the time to look at the different proposals to be able to come back with amendments."

"It was really very fertile," she said, before adding that the CAQ remains a "pragmatic" party that does not want to drag on debates "where we end up agreeing to disagree."

"Ultimately, we want to move forward," she said.

THE REGIONS

With less than a year to go before the election, CAQ party members will take up a theme that is dear to them this weekend: the regions, which they consider to be neglected.

In its book of proposals entitled "Stronger regions, a prouder Quebec," the CAQ states that the regions do not enjoy the same advantages as the major urban centers.

"They need a boost," it says. "This means better funding, more government support... We must make resources available and help people develop initiatives."

The CAQ is proposing measures in the areas of economic development, agriculture, forestry, housing and land use planning.

It will invite its members to vote on the transfer of jobs to the regions, the installation of electrical terminals and the use of wood in construction, for example.

10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY

Members will also mark the 10th anniversary of the CAQ, which was officially recognized as a political party on Nov. 14, 2011.

Founded by François Legault and Charles Sirois, the CAQ absorbed the Action Démocratique du Québec (ADQ) on Feb. 14, 2012 and entered the National Assembly after the 2012 general election.

It remained second opposition following the 2014 election.

The collapse of support for the so-called "traditional" parties in the 2018 general election brought the CAQ to power with 37.42 per cent of the vote and 74 seats in the National Assembly.

It is the first time since 1970 that a political party other than the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ) or the Parti Québécois (PQ) has held a majority of seats in the National Assembly.

The CAQ claims to be neither federalist nor sovereignist, but autonomist, meaning that it aims to defend Quebec's interests -- and increase its powers -- within Canada.

Since coming to power, the CAQ's main achievements include the adoption of a law on secularism, the tightening of immigration policies and the abolition of school boards.

-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Nov. 12, 2021.