Québec solidaire must decide if it wants to govern: Nadeau-Dubois

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QUEBEC — Putting his cards on the table, a blunt-talking Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois said Wednesday that Québec solidaire needs to decide, once and for all, whether it wants to play in the big leagues and be a party ready to govern Quebec.

Three days after the surprise resignation of QS’s female co-spokerson, Émilise Lessard-Therrien rocked the party to its core, Nadeau-Dubois emerged to say QS needs an overall; a modernization of its program, which dates back to 2006, and a new organizational structure because the old one is heavy, cumbersome and outdated.

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While admitting he personally can do better in his job, Nadeau-Dubois said he has no plans to resign. He insisted it will be up to the members, not him alone, to decide the future of a party he says is at a crossroads.

Nadeau-Dubois did reveal the 11-member caucus responded to his pitch behind closed doors earlier Wednesday by unanimously reaffirming their confidence in his leadership.

“I have a responsibility to be clear and transparent on where I stand,” Nadeau-Dubois said emerging from a self-imposed day of reflection sparked by the internal turmoil QS is experiencing. “I think QS must become a party ready to govern.

“Do we want QS to become a party ready to govern? Yes or no? This is the question I am asking today.”

The comments came as an age old debate inside QS reignited: should the party remain an opposition organization agitating for change or actually aspire to govern? The QS rank-and-file are often split on the question.

Nadeau-Dubois made it clear where he stands, insisting he is not talking about taking QS into the centre of political spectrum.

“We have to be more pragmatic and we have to make choices,” he said. “We cannot promise that we will change everything in one mandate. We need to pick our battles. I have been saying this since 2017.”

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The spark for the debate was Lessard-Therrien’s resignation Sunday, only five months after her election. In a long message on social media, Lessard-Therrien said her vision for the party was blocked by a “small clutch of political professionals closely connected to the male spokesperson (Nadeau-Dubois).

The former QS MNA for the riding of Rouyn-Noranda-Témiscamingue, Lessard-Therrien said he was regularly made to feel guilty for having expressed her opinions. She complained the party was too focused on its image and voter appeal.

It was not the first time a QS member has criticized him. Former MNA Catherine Dorion wrote a scathing book about the party and Nadeau-Dubois when she quit last fall.

Despite the criticism, members of the QS caucus rallied around Nadeau-Dubois Wednesday. He emerged to say too often such incidents are interpreted as personality conflicts when they should be handled in the form of political debates.

He did say, however, that the current structure of two co-spokespersons needs to be reviewed.

“This formula needs to be modernized,” he said. “We need to clarify the roles, the sharing of power, to decide who is accountable for what. Right now we realize it’s too loose. It creates confusion internally and this can create frustration.”

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As for the future of the party, he said QS has to “stop beating around the bush” and be clear with voters about wanting to govern.

“I am aware this vision is not unanimous (in the rank-and-file),” Nadeau-Dubois said. “I know there are people who have a different vision for the future of the party, for the future of the left. But I needed to be transparent in the context of my party going through difficult times.”

But the real test for Nadeau-Dubois will be later this month at a party national council meeting in Saguenay, where he hopes QS agrees to adopt a new declaration of principles. He will also propose the party overhaul its program from top to bottom, which he believes is the only way for it to start growing again.

The dust-up comes as the party struggles to find its way and the rival Parti Québécois surges.

Opinions polls consistently show QS trailing the other political parties. Despite launching an all-out campaign in the 2022 vote, the party got fewer total votes than it did in 2018. Often accused of being too Montreal-focused, the party lost support in the regions.

pauthier@postmedia.com

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