TROIS-RIVIERES -- The debate over a name change for the Parti Québécois (PQ) has been revived, but few elected officials and activists are open to change it.
PQ President Dieudonné Elle Oyolo said that the authorities will consider a name change in the coming months.
The PQ faithful are gathered in at extraordinary congress in Trois-Rivieres this weekend in order to rebuild the party, to review its principles and its rules after the historical electoral debacle of last year.
The president of the PQ's youth wing, Frédérique St-Jean, has let it be known that if at the end of the exercise the party members see fit to change the name, then it will be done.
However, PQ interim leader Pascal Bérubé said it was not a priority issue and that he liked the name as it is now. Berube said he wants voters to focus on its proposals for the future rather than on electoral defeats of the past.
The MNA for Rimouski, Harold LeBel, for his part said he was categorically opposed to removing the name of Parti Québécois.
According to him, the name is part of the history of Quebec and people recognize it, and it carries an ideal, that of sovereignty.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 10, 2019.
