Que. Liberal leader quits
PARTY CRUSHED IN MONDAY ELECTION
Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard has announced he is leaving politics following the crushing Liberal election defeat Monday. “The unequivocal general election result, even after a mandate that was marked by a recovery and a historic revival of Quebec, leads me to make this decision,” Couillard said Thursday in Quebec City. “The desire for change was clearly expressed, so we must accept the consequences.”
He made the announcement inside the National Assembly alongside his wife Suzanne Pilote, who put her arm around him as he choked up at one point.
Elected premier in 2014, Couillard served one mandate before his Liberals were swept from office by Francois Legault’s Coalition Avenir Quebec.
The 61-year-old neurosurgeon had campaigned on his government’s economic record, pointing to four consecutive balanced budgets and a thriving Quebec economy. He also positioned himself as a defender of minority rights in the face of Coalition plans to take a hard line on immigration and religious symbols in the public service.
But he led a party that had been in power for 13 of the past 15 years, and voters were thirsty for change.
Speaking on election night in his riding of Roberval, Couillard boasted, “I am leaving Quebec in a much better state than I found it.” Despite leading the Liberals to their lowest share of the popular vote ever, Couillard said he was not bitter about the result.
“I’m proud, and you should be too,” he told supporters.
The Liberal caucus, reduced to 32 members Monday, is expected to meet Friday to name an interim leader and set the groundwork for an eventual leadership race.