I will not renew my mandate in the Liberal Party of Quebec, Mr. Helms wrote in a letter to Dominique Anglade and the new party leader, Rafael Primeau-Ferraro.
As you know, the Quebec Liberal Party, our party, suffered an historic defeat last month and we have to take note of that, said Mr Helms, without going into the details of his departure.
The bloodshed, therefore, continues in the ranks of the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ) since the October 3 election debacle, ushering in a period of uncertainty for leader Dominique Anglade, whose authority is increasingly being challenged by voices calling for his resignation .
Jean-François Helms was one of the pillars of Dominique Anglade.
Photo: Screenshot / Teams
On October 3, the PLQ had its worst election result in its history, electing 21 MPs and receiving only 14% of the vote (6% in Quebec, 3% in Saguenay). These results placed them fourth among the top five parties in terms of popular support, behind the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ), the Parti Québécois (PQ) and Québec solidaire (QS).
Despite this political setback, Ms Anglade said she “needs every one” of her lieutenants, but some jumped overboard, including her communications director Jérémy Ghio, who announced his departure days after the general election.
In addition, on Thursday the leader of the PLQ expelled Marie-Claude Nichols from her group. The Vaudreuil MP was not part of Ms Anglade’s shadow cabinet and had turned down the duties she had been offered, the party said.
However, according to information from Radio-Canada, the member was interested in the third vice presidency of the National Assembly. However, Ms Anglade had supported MP Frantz Benjamin’s candidacy for the post.
Anglade ordered the chieftainship to be abandoned
Two days after the general election, Dominique Anglade, who had gathered his supporters in Mauricie to take stock of his campaign, had implicitly reaffirmed his intention to remain at the head of the Liberal Party.
It was a dose of love, lots of love from the contestants. Many people tell us, “We want to be there, we want to keep building the party,” she hinted.
But some liberals have struck a dissonant note about that dose of love.
Thus, a dozen Liberals, often longtime activists and people who had worked closely with the PLQ leader, including several former MPs and losing candidates – who preferred to remain anonymous – had called for Ms Anglade’s resignation in the press following her defeat .
She has almost killed the Liberal Party since she became its leader, even a former Liberal minister had said.
The PLQ is not immune to the disappearance, having hammered a battered candidate and longtime activist who had died in an old fortress. How far will we sink? another worried asked himself.
Some of the disappointed candidates also criticized the party’s strategy, citing difficulties in getting its ideas across to the French-speaking population. But Dominique Anglade rather saw the Liberals’ lack of presence on the ground.
With information from The Canadian Press