(Quebec) The Parti Québécois is calling for the resignation of former CAQ leader Eric Lefebvre, who now sits as an independent in the National Assembly while waiting to run for the Conservative Party of Canada.
“From now on, leave. It’s the right thing to do,” said PQ MP Pascal Bérubé.
The reasoning he puts forward is the following: the triggering of a by-election in the Arthabaska constituency is inevitable, since the elected Éric Lefebvre will necessarily have to resign when the federal election is called, which will have takes place before the 2026 Quebec general elections.
“Whether (independent federal MP) Alain Rayes resigns soon, or whether there is a federal election certainly before the Quebec elections, it is a given that there is a partial, it will cost $600,000. There will definitely be a partial in Arthabaska,” said Mr. Bérubé.
PHOTO PASCAL RATTHÉ, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Pascal Bérubé
He believes that one cannot “dedicate oneself totally to one’s role as an MP if one is engaged in a campaign to promote something completely different at the federal level.”
Mr. Bérubé also pointed out that Prime Minister François Legault had himself requested that PQ MP Martine Ouellet leave her post when she became leader of the Bloc Québécois. He also clarified that he had not directly asked Mme Ouellet to leave his post at this time.
Video montage
On social media, he shared a publication by former Parti Québécois leader Jean-François Lisée on X, who himself shared a montage of a press briefing by Mr. Legault dating from 2017.
In 2017, Mr. Legault declared at a press briefing that Mr.me Ouellet had to make a choice “the National Assembly or be leader of the Bloc Québécois”. “We cannot mix the two parliaments, the two positions she covets. So she will have to choose,” he said at the time.
The video does not, however, present the passages where Mr. Legault makes a direct link with the role of M.me Ouellet as leader of the Bloc. What prevents Martine Ouellet from sitting here, if she defends the interests of her voters? asked a journalist. “That’s not what we’re talking about here. We are talking about someone who wants to be the leader of a party in Ottawa. So, it’s like two responsibilities that are not, in my opinion, reconcilable,” he said.
The parliamentary leader of Québec solidaire Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois was less direct, but he asked Mr. Lefebvre to undertake a “reflection”. “If I were him, I would wonder. The people of this riding have the right to be represented in the National Assembly of Quebec by a member who does his job as a member, and that is what he is paid for. There are reflections that are necessary in his case,” he said.
“The voters of this constituency have the right to be represented, they deserve a full-time deputy. I invite Mr. Lefebvre to think,” he added.
On the side of the Liberal Party, MP Monsef Derraji believes that Mr. Lefebvre can continue to do his job well as an independent elected representative.
reference: www.lapresse.ca