Antoine Dionne Charest was born in the corridors of power. He was only seven years old at the last referendum on Quebec sovereignty in 1995. But that didn't stop him from organizing his own little no-camp committee in his childhood bedroom in Gatineau. A kind of political baptism that never left him.
Posted at 5:00 am.
As we arrive at his apartment in Montreal's Côte-des-Neiges district, Mr. Dionne Charest greets us upstairs on his balcony on this cool autumn morning. Facing the entrance a few floors up, he apologizes for the fact that the dashboard for unlocking the door shows his instructions in English. The man, who describes himself as a nationalist, swears that he has already complained to the property manager.
It was almost 30 years ago when the No camp won by a few thousand votes. Antoine Dionne Charest was far too young to understand the issues for which his father Jean Charest, then leader of the Progressive Conservative Party in Ottawa, was a leading player.
But today, at age 35, with the Parti Québécois (PQ) rising in the polls and the Liberals entrenching themselves in the province's political scene, the doctoral student in philosophy and a member of the Liberal Party Revival Committee of Quebec (PLQ) wants to have a say.
Freedoms first
Antoine Dionne Charest has been a member of the political commission PLQ since 2018, a kind of ideas box that offers political orientation to liberal activists. He has stood out at party conferences in recent years. Issues that are close to his heart have returned to the agenda: interculturality, the Quebec constitution, but above all his commitment to individual freedoms. Ideas that were at the heart of the committee report on revitalizing the Liberal Party.
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, THE PRESS
Antoine Dionne Charest says he is proud to bear the name Charest: “I am proud of it and I am very proud of the achievements of my father's government.” Today I speak my mind, I tell the truth and I don't hide. »
In May 2019 in Drummondville, before Dominique Anglade was crowned party leader, he already influenced the debate on the State Secularism Bill by declaring: “For us liberals, individual freedoms are the non-negotiable”. While still in the same city last October, he surprised people with his enthusiasm, while journalists in one of his press interviews recognized the manner of speaking and demeanor of his father, leader of the Liberal Party of Quebec from 1998 to 2012.
Anyone who asked him whether the Liberals were still tormented by the ghosts of the scandals that led to a commission of inquiry into the awarding and administration of public contracts in the construction industry replied that the regulatory work was done and it was high time for the media to have the “tape” change.
“I am proud to bear the name Charest. […] I'm proud of that and I'm very proud of the achievements of my father's government. Today I speak my mind, I give the right time and I don't hide,” he tells us, sitting in his living room without looking away as he serves coffee for a long interview about his journey but above all about his ambitions .