With the office of Liberal leader Dominique Anglade, Radio-Canada has been able to confirm the news of the end of the end of Mr Arcand’s political life, first published this morning by La Presse.
The name of the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ) candidate who will replace him will be announced on Monday.
Pierre Arcand is retiring after 15 years in politics. The MP for Outremont-Mont-Royal was first elected in 2007.
He then worked as a parliamentary officer at the Ministry of Economic Development, Innovation and Foreign Trade.
He also worked in the Presidium of the Conseil du trésor as well as in the Ministère de l’Environnement and the Ministère de l’Energy et des Resources naturelles.
The politician was also Minister for International Relations and Minister responsible for Francophonie from 2008 to 2010.
Holidays in Barbados
In December 2020, Pierre Arcand was spotted on holiday in Barbados, despite government recommendations not to travel due to the pandemic. This story had caused a lot of ink to be spilled in the media.
The Liberal MP later apologized for spending Christmas at his Caribbean home, a gesture he regretted.
The leader of the Liberal Party, Dominique Anglade, had qualified this decision as a misjudgment.
Mrs Anglade, who had first tried to dissuade the Liberal MP from traveling, finally decided to demote him as a consequence. Pierre Arcand had thus lost his duties as spokesman for Metropolis and on transport issues within the shadow cabinet of the PLQ.
A few months later, in May 2021, Pierre Arcand returned to the shadow cabinet. He was rehabilitated by Dominique Anglade when she appointed him leader of the Liberal group in August 2021.
One more
Pierre Arcand will be added to the list of MPs who have decided not to stand for another term in autumn 2022.
It is therefore half of the Liberal group, ie 13 out of 27 elected officials, who have chosen to retire from political life at the end of the current term.
Among them are Paule Robitaille, Hélène David, Nicole Ménard, Jean Rousselle, former Health Minister Gaétan Barrette, former Ministers Christine St-Pierre, Lise Thériault and Francine Charbonneau, and MP Monique Sauvé.
In the next campaign, leader Dominique Anglade will address the electorate surrounded by a largely renewed and less experienced team.
And he shouldn’t be displeased, because the renewal of the team was part of his aim to change the image of the party while distancing himself from the Jean Charest era and the Philippe Couillard era.
Behind the scenes, it is said that the chair also wanted Vaudreuil member Marie-Claude Nichols to leave, but chose to continue her political career.
demise of the PLQ
The PLQLiberal Party of Quebec is at its lowest in the polls since 2018 and is being massively neglected by the French-speaking electorate. It is no longer present except in the Montreal region and the Outaouais. According to election projection site Qc125, compiled from various polls, certain ridings won by the Liberals are now under threat, particularly by the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) or in some cases Québec solidaire (QS).
The victory of the Liberals at Saint-Henri–Sainte-Anne, the Fuhrer riding, is far from certain according to Qc125, as at La Pinière, Laporte, Mille-Îles, Hull, Verdun, Vaudreuil, Laval-des – Rapides, Vimont , Anjou-Louis-Riel and Fabre.
Same observation for Maurice-Richard, who was Liberal in 2018 with Marie Montpetit’s win and has been independent ever since. This riding is now coveted by QSQuébec solidaire and by the CAQCoalition avenir Québec.
In 2018, the Liberals also won Jean-Talon and Roberval, who have since passed into the fold of the CAQCoalition avenir Québec, and Chomedey, represented by Guy Ouellette, who became independent after being expelled from the group.