(Drummondville) The Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ) wants to give the province a “liberal constitution,” interim leader Marc Tanguay summarized on Saturday. According to him, a “super law” of this kind would protect Quebec from “bad PQ-Caquist decisions,” he said in reference to the tuition fees that the Legault government wants to double for Canadian and international students attending English-taught universities.
Published at 11:49 am.
“We are not going to propose a PQ-CAQ constitution, it is a liberal constitution,” Mr Tanguay said on the sidelines of the PLQ General Council in Drummondville. Nearly 400 Liberal activists are debating Saturday and Sunday the relaunch of the party, which this Sunday will confirm the rules for its next leadership race to elect a new leader in spring 2025.
Earlier this week, the Liberal Revival Committee, co-chaired by MP Madwa-Nika Cadet and former senator André Pratte, put forward a series of proposals, including the proposal to give Quebec a constitution that would provide “an essential basis for ensuring “cultural and social security” would represent Quebec’s linguistic vitality and its political weight”. The document would also confirm the existing rights of the English-speaking community to education and health services in English and to control their institutions.
For Marc Tanguay, “a constitution with a liberal flavor is a constitution that does not divide Quebecers.” [et] which will not deprive certain groups of Quebecers of their rights,” he said.
For the party’s parliamentary group leader, Monsef Derraji, it is a “golden opportunity to mobilize everyone, regardless of whether we are French-speaking, English-speaking or allophone, whether we just arrived a week ago or whether we are 400 years old.”
An “attack” on English-speaking universities
This week’s announcement by the Legault government that it would double tuition fees for Canadian or international students at an English-speaking university is sparking excitement among Liberals.
“Obviously, François Legault, we see his PQ side coming out. […] He is a PQ who loves to divide, who based his political career and his election on dividing Quebecers,” thundered leader Marc Tanguay.
A few minutes earlier, activist Antoine Dionne Charest, who was a member of the committee to revive the PLQ, insisted that the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government was causing “irreparable” damage to Quebec institutions such as English-speaking universities.
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, LA PRESSE ARCHIVE
Liberal activist Antoine Dionne Charest
“It looks like a separatist government,” he denounced, adding that the attack on English-speaking universities by doubling tuition fees for some of their students was “a frontal attack” on Quebec’s English-speaking community.
“We are causing irreparable damage to Quebec’s institutions. […] We can do much better than the CAQ, without stigmatizing certain Quebecers and without unduly restricting Quebecers’ freedoms. We can do much better,” emphasized Mr. Dionne Charest. The latter does not rule out running for the office of MP in the next parliamentary election in 2026.
The restart and then the race
According to him, the party’s recovery committee is laying the foundation for the next leadership contest. “You can’t ask a chef to start without putting water in the pool. […] Today we have just laid the foundation for the reconstruction of the party,” he said. The next Liberal leader will not be forced to respect the proposals set out in the report.
The only person who has expressed interest in the race so far is MP Frédéric Beauchemin. The latter was expelled from the Liberal group in recent days as part of an investigation into a complaint of bullying made against him and his activist team by the president of the Youth Commission and the party’s researcher in Parliament, Élyse Moisan.
The elected official of the Marguerite-Bourgeoys constituency will still be present in Drummondville this Saturday.
Should he stay at home and avoid attending the party’s general council if the person who lodged a complaint against him with the party and the official opposition leadership is present at the event? “Democracy ensures that we have the right to be present,” he replied.
PHOTO RYAN REMIORZ, CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVE
MP Frédéric Beauchemin.
“There is a mediation process. Mediation is underway. Everything will be fine and everyone will emerge from this process as a winner,” said Mr. Beauchemin, surrounded by his supporters.
On Sunday, the Liberal Party will confirm the rules for its next leadership race. Mr Beauchemin, who supported a hasty campaign, will not allow his wishes to be fulfilled. Instead, the Liberals will run a race that culminates in the election of a leader in the spring of 2025. Candidates must make a $40,000 deposit and their campaign spending will be capped at $400,000.
With the Canadian Press