Ex-health minister considers a run for Liberal leadership
Former health minister Philippe Couillard intends to run for the leadership of the Quebec Liberal Party.
With two more potential candidates dropping out Thursday, sources told The Gazette that Couillard, who left politics in 2008 to work in the private sector, is “90 per cent decided” to run.
Couillard, 55, is to make his decision public within two weeks.
But his bold move so early in the game — a sign Couillard does not think his old party is in such bad shape after its impressive election performance — puts enormous pressure on the other most-interested candidates, starting with the outgoing finance minister, Raymond Bachand.
It’s unclear Bachand will want to take on Couillard, who has been holding meetings with Liberals in Montreal this week to test the waters.
There was a report Thursday that one Liberal, former transport minister Sam Hamad, who had been thinking of running, dropped out after meeting Couillard and deciding to rally to him.
In Quebec City, however, Bachand, MNA for Outremont, continues to play his cards close to his chest, insisting that the way the field of candidates shapes up is not a factor in his decision to run or not.
“My reflection is really about what the party needs,” Bachand said at his final news conference as a minister. “Who is the best person for the Liberal Party of Quebec? Who is the best person for Quebec so a great party like ours can regain the confidence of Quebecers?
“A leader needs to have many qualities, not just economic. He must be a person who can rally people. We need more harmony in Quebec, to bring people together.”
And just to keep things interesting, another top rumoured candidate Pierre Moreau, the most recent transport minister, has not thrown in the towel either.
Liberals close to Moreau contacted by The Gazette refused to discuss his decisionmaking process.
La Presse, however, reported former public security minister Jacques Dupuis is itching to get back into politics and could be a pillar of a Moreau campaign.
But any Couillard cam- paign will have to start with an explanation on why — six months before his resignation — he started looking for work in the private sector.
He landed in a health-care consulting firm, Persistence Capital Partners.
Meanwhile Thursday, two other potential candidates put an end to rumours on their candidacy.
Former labour minister Lise Thériault confirmed she’s out, while Hydro-Québec chairman and chief executive officer Thierry Vandal quashed rumours he would run.
There were reports influential members of the Liberal Party were leaning on Vandal to make a run for the job.
By mid-morning, HydroQuébec put out a statement.
“I have a great deal of respect for men and women who get involved in politics in all parties,” Vandal says in the statement. “Since 1996, I have been working for Hydro-Québec and its shareholder, the government of Quebec.
“It is in this way that I am contributing to the economic development of Quebec.”