Pablo Rodriguez announces run for Quebec Liberal Party leadership

Pablo Rodriguez has resigned as Canada's transport minister and the government's Quebec lieutenant so he can run for leadership of the provincial Liberal party.

A senior government official told The Canadian Press that a new transport minister will be installed at a ceremony at Rideau Hall this afternoon.

Rodriguez says he's also leaving Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal caucus so that he can set his own priorities and focus on Quebec.

He plans to sit as an independent member of Parliament until next January, saying that will avoid an expensive byelection so close to the next federal election.

Rodriguez says he doesn't want an election right away and will vote against the non-confidence motion the Conservatives plan to introduce next week.

His resignation comes the same week as the Liberals lost a key byelection in a stronghold riding in Montreal to the Bloc Quebecois.

Pablo Rodriguez announces his resignation as transport minister as his wife Roxane Hardy and daughter Beatrice stand beside him in Gatineau on Thursday, September 19, 2024. (Adrian Wyld, The Canadian Press)

He will become the fifth candidate to enter the race to find Dominique Anglade's successor.

The other announced candidates are former Montreal mayor Denis Coderre, former president and CEO of the Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec Charles Milliard, tax lawyer Marc Bélanger and Liberal MNA Frédéric Beauchemin.

Rodriguez already has the support of Liberal MNA Désirée McGraw.

The race officially begins in January 2025. The new Liberal leader will be chosen in the summer of that year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Sept. 19, 2024.