Quebec solidaire MNAs come to defence of parliamentary leader after shock resignation
Hit hard by the resignation of co-spokesperson Émilise Lessard-Therrien, Quebec solidaire (QS) MNA Vincent Marissal suggested on Tuesday that Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois must change the way he manages the party.
Nadeau-Dubois was absent from parliament on Tuesday, and QS indicated that he was shaken by the breakup of the party's two-headed leadership and needed a moment to himself.
Some members of his caucus came to his defence, however, claiming that the criticism levelled at him was unfair, but others avoided answering journalists' questions.
None of the MNAs dared go so far as to clearly question the singular model of two co-spokesmen, male and female.
In her resignation message posted on social media on Monday, Lessard-Therrien suggested that the party leadership was infiltrated by Nadeau-Dubois's entourage and that she had had difficulty finding her "space" within it.
Does the co-spokesman need to change his leadership style?
"The short answer is yes," said Marissal in a news scrum before the caucus meeting, reiterating his confidence in him.
"The long answer is: what are we changing? We change every day. He adjusts every day. He's in a position that's not always easy."
"I think the criticisms levelled at him are unfair at the moment, and I have every confidence in him," said MNA Christine Labrie. "I think we need him for the future."
Labrie, who was Lessard-Therrien's opponent in the race for the co-spokesperson, would have preferred Lessard-Therrien, who was elected to her new position at the end of November, to stay on a little longer.
She recalled that she had a budget of several tens of thousands of dollars to pay for her travels and carry out her mandates.
"I find it regrettable that, in the current discussion, we're looking for someone to blame at all costs," continued her colleague Alexandre Leduc.
For his part, Marissal, who was the only MNA to have publicly supported Lessard-Therrien in the race for the position of women's spokesperson last year, even felt guilty for not having supported her enough when she expressed her discomfort.
"It's a failure" for the party, he concluded, while his colleagues Leduc and Labrie spoke of the cumbersome nature of the party's bodies.
A number of MNAs rushed to their caucus meeting and refused to speak to the parliamentary press, including Sol Zanetti and Alejandra Zaga-Mendez.
Lessard-Therrien is the former MNA for Rouyn-Noranda-Témiscamingue who was defeated in the 2022 election. She was elected women's co-spokesperson by a narrow margin in the run-off against MNA Ruba Ghazal.
She made it her mission to root her party in the regions, given that the majority of QS seats are on the island of Montreal and that the party has plateaued well below 20 per cent in voting intentions, poll after poll.
In her letter of resignation, she said she wanted to "try to breathe new life into the party, or at least the life it had before," but that her vision had "collided with an organizational block."
At the end of March, she announced that she was taking a leave of absence for health reasons, and on Monday, she finally threw in the towel.
Of her experience, she writes: "I felt quite alone and found it hard to find my space. The different visions collided, and I found it difficult to reconcile them, and in the process, my deepest motivations for being co-spokesperson for Québec solidaire were undermined."
She also claims to have been reprimanded and not listened to.
"(....) I've been scolded or made to feel guilty for speaking out sincerely, giving opinions or following my intuition. I was invalidated when I named needs."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on April 30, 2024.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Trump confronts repeated boos during raucous Libertarian convention speech
Donald Trump was booed repeatedly while addressing Saturday night’s Libertarian Party National Convention.
This type of screen time has the worst effect on kids: experts
According to some experts, there is one type of screen time that is continuously excessive, and it's having a severe effect on our children.
Family of toddler found dead at small-town Ont. daycare no closer to answers after year of investigation
A year has passed since two-year-old Vienna Irwin was found on the property of a home-based daycare in small-town Ontario, but her family says they are no closer to answers of what happened that day.
Grayson Murray, two-time PGA Tour winner, dead at 30
Two-time PGA Tour winner Grayson Murray died Saturday morning at age 30, one day after he withdrew from the Charles Schwab Cup Challenge at Colonial.
Humboldt Broncos crash victims and families react to decision to deport truck driver
The family of one of the victims of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash in 2018 says they are 'thankful' for a decision by a Calgary immigration board to deport the driver of the truck involved.
Fatal plane crash reported near Squamish, B.C.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has confirmed it is working with local Mounties and the BC Coroners Service after a plane crash near Squamish, B.C. Friday night.
'God forgives but we don’t': Loud outburst from stabbing victim’s family during sentencing hearing
An emotional outburst in a London, Ont. courtroom Friday disrupted the sentencing hearing of a woman who pleaded guilty for her part in the death of 29-year-old Mohammed Abdallah.
Three dead after vehicle plunged down a 100-foot embankment in Shediac, N.B.
Three people have died after a vehicle veered off the road in Shediac N.B., Friday morning.
Appeal denied for Edmonton soldier accused of trying to kill her 3 children
An Edmonton woman found guilty of trying to kill her three children has been denied an appeal.