Byelections have soared since Couillard took power
Death, palace intrigue and allegations of lies and corruption are at the centre of the highest number of Quebec byelections in more than 30 years.
The Oct. 2 byelection in the Quebec City riding of LouisHébert will be the 15th in the province since Philippe Couillard’s Liberals formed a majority government in April 2014.
Ontario, by contrast, has had seven byelections since Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals won in June that year.
At roughly $500,000 a pop, byelections this legislative session will cost Quebec about $8 million, according to the province’s elections commission.
And that sum doesn’t include so-called transition allowances given to some of the departing politicians. Before November 2015, members of the legislature who left mid-mandate were eligible to such payments to help them in their career switch.
Yves Bolduc, the ex-education minister who lost Couillard’s confidence early in the Liberal mandate, pocketed $150,000.
His staff — who were also put out of work when he resigned — shared another $150,000.
The high number of byelections — the most in one mandate since 1981-85 — forced the government to end the practice of automatic allowances. Now, only politicians who leave early for serious family or health reasons are eligible.
Julie Champagne, a spokeswoman for Quebec’s national assembly, said “it is up to the ethics commissioner to determine if the departing member satisfies the conditions to receive an allocation.”
Despite the change, nine members resigned this session before the new rules were adopted.
The most high-profile resignation came in May 2016, roughly 24 hours after a cryptic television interview involving Julie Snyder, the ex-partner of thenParti Québécois leader Pierre Karl Péladeau. Péladeau resigned the following day, saying he was choosing his family over politics. He had been leader for a year.
Weeks later, PQ house leader Bernard Drainville resigned and soon after began co-hosting a popular Quebec City radio show, leading pundits to speculate his political career was hitched to Péladeau’s and sank as a result of him leaving.
Drainville had replaced Stéphane Bédard, who quit office shortly after Péladeau demoted him during a turbulent time for the party in 2015.
The Liberals haven’t had it any easier, with the Opposition strategically attacking the party on its key vulnerability: its past.
The Opposition has tried to pick off Liberal cabinet ministers by accusing them of corruption and being tied to alleged wrongdoings from the Liberal era of Jean Charest, whose party lost the 2012 general election.
Sam Hamad left cabinet in April 2016 after he was connected to a former Liberal fundraiser facing corruption-related criminal charges. The fundraiser, MarcYvan Côté, is awaiting trial along with various co-accused, including ex-deputy premier Nathalie Normandeau.
Hamad was cleared by the province’s ethics commissioner of any wrongdoing, but he never rejoined cabinet and quit politics last April.
Former cabinet minister Jacques Daoust resigned in 2016 after perceived wrongdoing involving the sale of Rona Inc. to U.S. hardware retailer Lowe’s.
Daoust died last month. Additionally, a byelection was held after the death of Sylvie Roy, who was sitting as an Independent in the legislature.
Concordia University political scientist Harold Chorney said it is common for politicians to leave during a mandate.
“Politics is a thankless career. You put your livelihood and that of your family at risk and in the hands of the public and you’re there to serve,” Chorney said in an interview.
“People find it tiring for all sorts of personal reasons. It wears people out.”
Chorney also said there appears to be a birth of a new generation of idealists.
The new wave is personified by Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, who in his mid-20s won a seat in a byelection this year for Québec solidaire, the left-wing party hoping to steal votes from the PQ and make inroads outside Montreal.
October’s byelection is being held against the backdrop of good economic news for the Liberals.
Quebec is a leader among the provinces in job creation and salary increases, and its unemployment rate hasn’t been as low for decades.
If political donations are any indication, however, the PQ remains a popular choice for citizens, with the sovereigntist party leading with $611,837 in donations between Jan. 1 and Aug. 31.