Former La Presse columnist to challenge Lisée in Rosemont

Vincent Marissal, a former political columnist for La Presse, has confirmed his intention to run in the provincial election as a candidate for Québec Solidaire in the Montreal riding of Rosemont.

The move will pit his candidacy against that of Parti Québécois incumbent and party leader, JeanFrançois Lisée.

Marissal told reporters that, in the meantime, he will serve as a public affairs adviser to Québec Solidaire. The left-of-centre sovereignist party holds three of the 125 seats in the National Assembly.

Asked why he chose Rosemont, Marissal said he lives in the riding and raised his family there.

As for his sovereignist credentials, Marissal said “the relaunch of the sovereignty movement needs a new approach” that he thinks is offered by Québec Solidaire.

Challenged on columns he had written that described the sovereignty movement as used up and out of date, Marissal said that the 1995 referendum defeat was followed a period of “demoralization” and “indifference and resignation” that had also affected him.

Marissal denied a claim by former PQ cabinet minister turned political commentator Bernard Drainville that he had approached the federal Liberal Party to run in a yet-to-be-called byelection in Outremont.

He noted that over the years — and with the exception of the federal Conservatives — he had been approached to run as a candidate by all federal and provincial parties.

Presse Canadienne