Many issues await Québec solidaire as part of the next National Council in Saguenay, from May 24 to 26. According to Olivier Bolduc, former party candidate, two possible solutions should be considered.
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The first challenge would concern the simultaneous roles of parliamentary leader and co-spokesperson for Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, which is an “extremely demanding, even perilous task,” said the former candidate for TVA News.
“We must both manage the parliamentary strategy of 12 deputies and be the voice of a party which is made up of several bodies. […] It’s a real balancing act.”
Does the structure need to be reviewed?
According to Mr. Bolduc, two options could be considered, the first being a revision of the members’ statutes. “We could give more decision-making power to a co-spokesperson or a parliamentary leader, for example,” he explained.
However, Mr. Bolduc leaned more towards the second choice: a duo that presents itself. According to him, this would allow the two people to “weather the storms together”, and to be better able to manage the “legitimate” expectations of party members who would sometimes have “noisy” demands.
Regarding the divisions between certain members of the party, Mr. Bolduc clarified that “all parties have internal divisions and tensions. The only difference at Québec solidaire is that there is a structure that allows people who do not agree to be heard.”
Mr. Bolduc also defended the competence of the co-spokesperson by affirming that “there are not many people who could do as good a job as [Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois]because it’s not easy to achieve everything he does.
For him, it is the party as a whole that must reflect.
A contested female by-election
Olivier Bolduc tore up his QS membership card in November 2023 when the party announced that it would only take female candidates for the by-election.
“I have no problem with elections being contested, this is the nature of the electoral exercise,” he clarified. Yet the door “locked” for him when the organization determined that only women could submit their applications.
“An electoral exercise is one thing. A nomination exercise is another. For me, deciding in advance who will show up in a [contexte] electoral is authoritarianism. This is completely in contradiction with democratic principles.”
Listen to the full interview with Olivier Bolduc in the video above
