The CAQ is relying on attorney Audrey Murray to try and ride Maurice-Richard from the Liberals in Montreal. This is a new female candidacy for François Legault’s party, which is already guaranteed to outnumber men in the October 3 elections.
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“After 4 years at the top of the [Commission des partenaires du marché du travail (CPMT)]I have agreed to accept new challenges that will be announced shortly,” Ms. Murray wrote on her LinkedIn page last week.
The nature of these challenges is now known. She will seek to be elected as an MP in Maurice-Richard’s squad under the banner of the Avenir Québec Coalition, Le Journal de Montréal learned.
The party has not confirmed the information, but according to our sources, will make the official announcement soon.
Audrey Murray has served as President of the CPMT since June 2018. Previously, the lawyer was also vice president for customer service and development at the Commission de la Construction du Québec (CCQ).
With a candidacy of this magnitude, François Legault’s party hopes to win Maurice-Richard, a race won by the Liberals in the last two general elections. In 2018, CAQ candidate Manon Gauthier placed third behind the Liberal Party and Quebec Solidaire candidates.
MP and former Minister Marie Montpetit, who has represented riding Maurice-Richard since 2014, has made the decision not to run again. She had sat as an independent since being expelled from the Liberal faction in November 2021 following allegations of psychological harassment.
After a bitter break with Dominique Anglade’s political formation, Ms Montpetit said she remains a member of the Quebec Liberal Party but will vote against the party in the next election.
More women
At the CAQ, female candidates are piling up. Prime Minister François Legault also presented two new candidates in the counties of Montérégie on Thursday.
They are the engineer Carole Mallette in Huntingdon and Marie-Belle Gendron, President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Greater Roussillon in Châteauguay.
These two constituencies are currently represented by the CAQ, but MPs Claire Isabelle and MarieChantale Chassé are leaving politics.
These announcements increase the number of women seeking votes for François Legault’s party, out of the 115 candidatures that have been formalized so far. As a result, more women than men will represent the Coalition Avenir Québec in the October 3 elections.