PQ aims to narrow the gender gap as Lisée names Hivon deputy
Quebecers will be urged to vote for the Lisée-Hivon ticket in the 2018 election.
Breaking with precedent and trying to boost morale in the struggling party, Parti Québécois leader Jean-François Lisée surprised his party Sunday, naming Véronique Hivon his deputy leader.
Should the PQ form a government in 2018, Hivon, the popular MNA for the riding of Joliette best known for her sensitive work on the delicate dying with dignity issue, would automatically have the title of deputy premier.
Lisée made the announcement at the close of a two-day PQ national council meeting here. The effect was visible immediately with party members leaving for home with a bounce in their step as opposed to the long faces seen Saturday as another poll showed the movement in deep trouble with voters.
Many delegates carried the
new pink and blue “Lisée-Hivon” posters handed out by organizers to create a buzz in the hall of the spanking new Saint-Hyacinthe convention centre.
Lisée conceded the idea of a deputy leader is a whole “new experience” but he’s been mulling over the idea for months. While party statutes do not provide for such a position, nothing says it can’t exist, he noted.
He conceded there may be times where he and Hivon don’t necessarily agree, either.
“We are different, we are very different and we are determined to stay that way,” Lisée said, making the announcement to 500 riding executives and members. “People should know we have different points of view but we’re headed in the same direction.”
“The whole is greater than the sum of its parts,” added Hivon, who joined Lisée on the stage and stood behind a matching podium which was added after his announcement. “I am very happy.”
Lisée and Hivon later conceded the only comparable two-headed leadership structure is over at Québec solidaire, which has cospokespeople: Manon Massé and Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois.
The PQ structure is different, they said. Here Lisée remains leader and Hivon the party’s No. 2.
Lisée compared the situation to the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, where Capt. Jean-Luc Picard has a high-ranking officer (called “No. 1” in the series) to help him run the ship.
Lisée said he has always admired the structure where the leader works with someone who questions and pushes him or her to be better.
He said he also always admired the U.S. system where two politicians run for president on the same ticket.
“It’s more complicated, but democracy is more complicated than authoritarianism,” Lisée said.
There are strategic reasons at play. Hivon is a very popular politician in Quebec and scores high on the trust scale among voters. She ran for the party leadership in 2016, which Lisée ultimately won. Hivon reluctantly pulled out of the race for health reasons.
Lisée recently doubled her workload in the opposition, adding justice to her responsibility as families critic.
The PQ also believes the move will help it electorally in these bleak times.
“We are always interested in widening the circle of people at ease in the PQ,” Lisée said. “Do we hope it will change people’s opinions in favour of the PQ? Absolutely.”
There are other factors. Polls consistently show women are less keen to vote for the Coalition Avenir Québec, which is leading overall in voter intentions.
The PQ wants to cash in on that reluctance by upping Hivon’s visibility. The tandem dovetails nicely with the party’s efforts to reposition itself as the main social democratic force in Quebec; ready to protect the state and its social programs from the Liberals and CAQ austerity buffs.
Pumped PQ officials believe Hivon’s presence in the campaign could swing many close races.
As for his own leadership, Lisée conceded he has an impetuous side (it’s got him in trouble a few times with his own caucus) and Hivon’s more cautious, think-twicebefore-speaking nature will come as a bonus.
The Hivon announcement comes as a bit of good news for the PQ, which has been through a rough few weeks. Four veteran MNAs recently decided not to run in 2018.
A party caucus in Shawinigan last week was overshadowed when former leader Pierre KarlPéladeau granted an interview on Radio-Canada in which he left the door wide up to a possible return to active politics.
Lisée had to scramble to do damage control.
The PQ also keeps slipping in public opinion, including in the latest Léger poll published on Saturday in Le Devoir. The new poll shows CAQ at 39 per cent, leaving the other parties trailing in its wake. A month ago, the party was polling at 36 per cent.
The CAQ leads the important category of francophone votes with 46 per cent, allowing Léger to conclude the CAQ is within striking distance of a majority government.
Quebec’s Liberals have plunged four percentage points since the last Léger poll in December. Despite the Liberal’s avalanche of “good news” announcements in recent weeks, the party is now at a historic low in public opinion at 28 per cent.
The Parti Québécois isn’t doing that much better, but is up one percentage point to 20 per cent.
Québec solidaire lost two points in the poll, slipping to nine per cent.