The Parti Quebecois’ National Council meeting in Sainte-Hyacinthe was overtaken with surprise as party leader Jean-Francois Lisee made the announcement that a deputy party leader would run alongside him in a tandem PQ election campaign.

Veronique Hivon, a former competitor of Lisee’s, will take on the role as the party moves forward towards the October election.

Assuming the duo is elected, Hivon could go on to become the deputy Premier of Quebec, alongside Lisee.

Hivon previously worked as a spokesperson in family issues, and was a shortlisted candidate in the 2016 PQ leadership race that ultimately saw Lisee elected as party leader.

She is a National Assembly member for Joliette, and is Vice-Chair of the Committee on Health and Social Services.

However, Hivon’s claim to political fame lies in her role as the Minister responsible for the Die in Dignity commission, which pushed for the rights of terminally-ill patients to request medically-assisted suicide.

In 2016, after losing the race to Lisee, Hivon stepped down from the political limelight due to persistent health issues.

There are murmurs that the announcement is purely strategic – part of a plan to reverse negative poll results. A recent Leger-Le Devoir poll placed the sovereigntist party in third place behind their counterparts.

After breaking the news, Lisee brought Hivon onstage with him at the conference, and justified the decision by telling delegates that the PQ will grow to become “greater than the sum of its parts.”

Despite their differences, Hivon expressed they share the same long-term vision for the party. She also said her appointment to deputy leader sparks a broader conversation about women in political leadership roles.

“As he stated, I think it was something important that we want to show – that parity and equality for us at the Parti Quebecois is something that’s very important – but it’s not the only base on which the decision was taken,” Hivon told reporters after the initial event.

Hivon added that she and Lisee work well together, and that they are “complimentary” in their work.

She first expressed interest in running for party leadership after Pierre-Karl Peladeau’s resignation last year.