PQ leader would prefer a female candidate in former 'superminister' seat in Terrebonne

Parti Quebecois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon would like to add a woman to his caucus, and may have the chance in the recently vacated Terrebonne riding. St-Pierre Plamondon is accompanied by MNAs Pascal Berube (far left), Joel Arsenault (left), Pascal Paradis (right) (Karoline Boucher, The Canadian Press)

Parti Quebecois (PQ) leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon wants to run a candidate in the riding of Terrebonne, vacated on Wednesday by the resignation of CAQ minister Pierre Fitzgibbon.

At a news scrum on Wednesday morning in Rouyn-Noranda, where the PQ caucus is taking place, he confirmed that there were several aspirants wishing to carry the PQ banner in the next byelection.

His wish, however, is to add a woman to his all-male caucus of four MNAs.

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"My wish is to have a woman, but the fact remains that there is a process, there are a bunch of criteria, I just don't want to speculate," he said. "I just don't want to speculate."

He therefore did not go into names or the number of potential candidates interested.

"The process is ongoing, but I can't comment on every potential name."

A year ago, St-Pierre Plamondon had to defend his choice of candidate in the Jean-Talon byelection, Pascal Paradis, which took the riding away from the Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ), but added another man to an already all-male caucus.

A 'test' for the PQ

Terrebonne was virtually always a PQ riding until the CAQ's electoral victory in 2018.

On Tuesday, the PQ leader saw a "great challenge" in this opportunity to win back the trust of Terrebonne voters, and on Wednesday, he saw it as a test for his party.

"There are always tests (in politics); it's a perpetual test," he said.

He is calling on Premier François Legault to call a byelection as soon as possible so that the government can at least minimize the consequences of one of its ministers resigning during his term in office.

By law, the government has six months to call a byelection if a seat is left vacant.

The PQ leader lamented that this was the third resignation in just over a year from the CAQ, following Jean-Talon MNA Joëlle Boutin in July 2023 and Arthabaska MNA Éric Lefebvre last April, who became an independent.

"What does it say about this government that cannot motivate its key players? Will others make the same decision? Is this not a symptom of a government at the end of its tether, out of date on a number of issues?" said St-Pierre Plamondon.  

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Sept. 4, 2023.