The Quebec Solidaire caucus comes to the defense of Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois

Torn with questions since the resignation of Émilise Lessard-Therrien, the elected officials of Québec Solidaire (QS) refuse to question the organization chart of the political party or the leadership of its male spokesperson, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois.

Both Manon Massé (Sainte-Marie–Saint-Jacques) as Christine Labrie (Sherbrooke) and Alexandre Leduc (Hochelaga-Maisonneuve) came to the defense of the status quo on Tuesday, 24 hours after the announcement of the departure of Ms. Lessard- Therrien, just five months after her election as the party’s female spokesperson.

Ms. Lessard-Therrien, who served in the National Assembly from 2018 to 2022, announced her resignation Monday on Facebook, deploring, among other things, that the different vision that she proposed came up against the organizational blockage of a small, tight-knit team around Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois.

The latter, however, works well as a team, argued Christine Labrie at a press briefing Tuesday morning.

And when I hear people say that we don’t give enough space to women in this party, and that they don’t have leadership within the party, that bothers me a lot, because I, I feel that I have leadership in this partyshe continued.

It affects me that we are considered subordinates. I don’t feel like that. And I find it insulting, almost, to hear it.

At his side, the parliamentary leader of QSAlexandre Leduc, also defended the leadership of Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, arguing in particular that he had worked with Émilise Lessard-Therrien to take the regional turn promoted by the latter, particularly in the redfish and land grabbing.

The member for Hochelaga-Maisonneuve also stressed that the entourage of his parliamentary leader was made up of people highly competent.

: “Who are we hanging this evening? Who is the culprit today? And here we are looking. Heads must roll.””,”text”:”I find it regrettable that , in the current discussion, we are looking for someone to blame at all costs, he lamented. It’s like playing Werewolves, and [qu’on se disait]: “Who are we hanging this evening? Who is the culprit today? And here we are looking. Heads must roll.””}}”>I find it regrettable that, in the current discussion, we are looking for someone to blame at all costs, he lamented. It’s like playing Werewolves, and [qu’on se disait] : “Who are we hanging this evening? Who is the culprit today? And here we are looking. Heads must roll.”

However, the departure of Ms. Lessard-Therrien, according to him, is rather the result of complicated situations, with tons of complicated factors. Also there is no a [seule] person who [devrait] to be pointed atestimated Mr. Leduc.

It’s not easy to have collective leadershipsummarized Manon Massé in an interview on the Montreal show All one morningon ICI Première.

Not only QS has no leader, but its central body, the National Coordination Committee, has more than a dozen people, including the president, Roxane Milot, forms, with the female and male spokespersons of the party, a management triorecalled the MP at Patrick Masbourian’s microphone.

In this context, moving forward is not easyrepeated Ms. Massé, who is beginning these days a gradual return to work after having undergone a third heart operation in less than a year.

This collective leadership, we are not used to thatshe remarked. Who here has been used to co-managing a business? To co-lead a group? Very few people. This is not a usual practice.

The MP, however, considered that QS absolutely had to set an example in order to one day be able to govern Quebec.

Power, if we are not able to share it between two people, we will never be able [de le partager] with the people.

The dean of QS in the National Assembly, who was co-spokesperson for the party from 2017 to 2023, also renewed her support for Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois on Tuesday, affirming that she made him extremely confident.

Ms. Massé, however, admitted that she had to adjust after the appointment of Mr. Nadeau-Dubois to this position, mentioning that their professional relationship had developed over time. I was co-spokesperson for almost seven years with him, it didn’t happen in the first monthshe stressed.

In this sense, the member for Sainte-Marie–Saint-Jacques would have deeply desired only passageways are found so that Émilise Lessard-Therrien remains the female spokesperson for QS while continuing to travel back and forth between Témiscamingue, where she lives, Quebec and Montreal.

Called to react quickly on Monday, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois for his part recognized that the resignation of Ms. Lessard-Therrien constituted “bad news” for the party.

An interim spokesperson until November?

The management of QS announced on Monday that it was still too early to comment on the mechanisms that will make it possible to replace Émilise Lessard-Therrien in her functions.

The party’s statutes nevertheless give the right to the National Coordination Committee to appoint an interim spokesperson until the next annual congress, which will take place, in this case, in November 2024.

In this context, the members of the Committee are currently evaluating their optionsconfirmed press secretary Charles Castonguay to Radio-Canada on Tuesday morning.