Nobody can accuse the Quebec Liberals of peaking too soon in their quest for a new leader. The party’s former leader, Dominique Anglade, resigned in November 2022 following the Liberals’ disastrous showing in that year’s election. It has taken all this time for the Liberals to lick their wounds, regroup, get through more than one internal crisis, develop new policies and try — despite devastating polling results — to reconnect with francophone voters in the regions. The last piece of the puzzle is a new full-time leader — a replacement for interim leader Marc Tanguay, who analysts agree has done good work holding down the fort and challenging the Coalition Avenir Québec government in the legislature. The new year is all about relaunching the party, which, with 19 MNAs, forms the official opposition in the National Assembly. Officially, the race kicks off Jan. 13, with a five-month campaign leading to the vote for the new leader on June 14. Candidates have until April 11 to officially file their candidacy papers and the required $40,000 deposit. They must provide the signatures of 750 members from at least 70 ridings in 12 regions. Of that number, at least 350 people have to be new members. Campaign spending for leadership candidates is capped at $400,000. Between April 12 and June 8, five all-candidate debates will be held. One will be in English, and one is to be organized by the party’s youth wing.
But what about candidates? After a slow start, when it appeared only Marguerite-Bourgeoys MNA Frédéric Beauchemin was considering a run for the job, people started to come forward in the spring of 2024. First to announce, in June, was former Montreal mayor and former federal Liberal cabinet minister Denis Coderre. He was followed in August by Charles Milliard, a pharmacist and the former president of the Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec who has roots in the Liberal youth wing. Then, in a surprise move, former Matane lawyer and fiscal policy expert Marc Bélanger announced he would run. Fourth to launch, in September, was Beauchemin himself. He rapidly tried to position himself as the economic candidate. He was followed by federal Liberal minister Pablo Rodriguez, who quit the Trudeau cabinet to sit as an independent so he could run for the leadership. To date, there are no female candidates. The first time all five appeared together was in November at a Liberal policy convention in Lévis, across the river from Quebec City. They did not disappoint, politely staking out their turf and taking their first jabs at each other. Rodriguez, who leads the pack in early polling, was the main target of the other candidates and was forced to answer, for the first time, some questions on policy.