MONTREAL -- One of the student leaders who led last spring's protests against tuition hikes is about to become a candidate for the Parti Quebecois.
Leo Bureau-Blouin confirmed Tuesday evening in a short message posted online that he will run for the PQ in the Montreal-area riding of Laval-des-Rapides.
The former head of the federation representing college students was expected to meet PQ officials Tuesday
The 20-year-old Bureau-Blouin has set up an interesting tussle in the riding, because his Liberal foe will be junior finance minister Alain Paquet.
Paquet was part of the government team that took part in the last round of negotiations with student leaders in June. Bureau-Blouin had already resigned by then.
When contacted by CTV Montreal, Paquet said that he wasn't surprised. "I'm not surprised anymore in terms of what the PQ does," said Paquet.
The Liberal MNA claimed that the PQ was having difficulty finding Blouin a riding after PQ militants refused to have him run in Trois-Rivieres.
To run Bureau-Blouin, PQ leader Pauline Marois is pushing aside Marc Demers, a long-time PQ candidate in Laval-des-Rapides, whom Paquet felt was well experienced and knew the riding quite well.
While Paquet said he will respect his opponent, he still took a shot at Bureau-Blouin, stating that the future candidate would "get his first real taste of what a secret ballot is all about." The Liberal was alluding to the votes helding at Quebec universities in the spring to join a province-wide protest, the votes were largely done by show of hand.
--with files from The Canadian Press.
Here is Bureau-Blouin's announcement in its entirety:
