PQ has lots of work and little time after losing Péladeau
Party hopes to have chosen its interim chief, date for new leadership race by week’s end
MONTREAL— The Parti Québécois is picking up and moving on after the surprise resignation of Pierre Karl Péladeau just a year after he was elected leader.
Péladeau’s decision to quit politics due to what is reportedly a custody battle with Julie Snyder, the television host and producer with whom he has two children, has propelled the PQ into action.
By the end of the week, the party is expected to have chosen an interim leader to guide its efforts in the Quebec legislature and set a date for a leadership convention to select Péladeau’s successor, according to party spokesman Yanick Grégoire.
It will be up to the elected PQ caucus to choose the interim leader in a meeting that has been set for Friday. Early names mentioned to fill that position include former Quebec transport minister Sylvain Gaudreault and Agnes Maltais, a veteran péquiste who has served as minister of labour, among other cabinet posts.
On Friday night, the party’s national council of presidents, a body made up of local riding presidents, is scheduled to set the guidelines for the coming leadership race. That could include the number and locations for the leadership debates and the all-important question of how long the race should last.
Without committing to any dates, the president of the PQ’s national executive council said there is little time to waste in picking a new leader and getting them into fighting shape in time for the next Quebec election in 2018.
In a Radio-Canada interview, Raymond Archambault suggested that Péladeau’s successor should be in place by next summer, in time for a PQ policy convention that has been scheduled for June 2017.
Party faithful and potential candidates appear to understand that time is of the essence. As soon as the shock of his resignation had registered, PQ supporters started falling into place behind their preferred candidate.
Of those, so far only Véronique Hivon, the PQ member credited with shepherding Quebec’s landmark euthanasia law into existence, has admitted that she is consulting with her supporters and advisers in contemplation of a leadership run.
A spokesperson for Péladeau said the former PQ leader was not giving interviews to further discuss the reasons behind his departure. However, several news reports Tuesday, citing unnamed sources, said the former president and chief executive of media company Quebecor Inc. was actually at risk of losing shared custody of his children, ages 7 and 10, because of the rigours involved in leading a political party.
Montreal’s La Presse newspaper reported that in a teleconference minutes before his public announcement Péladeau told his caucus colleagues: “I had an absent father, a difficult childhood. I want my family to succeed.”
For the future, there is speculation that Péladeau could return to the executive offices of Quebecor, which was founded by his father, Pierre Péladeau. Despite enormous pressure and controversy, Péladeau refused to sell off his shares in the company after he was elected to Quebec’s legislature. Though he placed his shares in an arm’s-length trust, he continues to control 74 per cent of the company, which runs the French-language TVA network, the Journal de Montreal newspaper and the Vidéotron cable company.
Quebecor issued a very brief statement on Monday acknowledging his decision but refusing to comment on any possible implications for its future operations.