André Pratte: Pablo Rodriguez has won over the Quebec Liberals. That was the easy part
Rodriguez is a hard worker. He will need every ounce of energy he can muster; a tremendous amount of work is necessary to rebuild the QLP. Support for the party outside the region of Montreal is meagre. In many ridings, there are few party members left, no association and no money. Depending on the public opinion surveys in the next few months, finding first-rate candidates in all 125 ridings may not be an easy task.
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The current political situation in Quebec does offer some hope for the provincial liberals. According to a Pallas poll conducted right after Rodriguez was elected, the PQ leads (as it has for months now) with 31 per cent of the vote, followed by the QLP at 26 per cent, its best score in five years. The party currently in government, François Legault's Coalition Avenir Québec, slides to third place, with only 15 per cent of voting intentions. With such numbers, the next provincial election may turn out to be a traditional PQ-QLP confrontation.
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If this is so, it will be tempting for the provincial Liberals to run a campaign based solely on Quebecers' fear of another separation referendum, a strategy that has worked well in the past. In 2026, though, that would be a mistake. Although most Quebecers want to remain in Canada, especially with Donald Trump's annexation threats, their priorities lie elsewhere: the cost of living, the catastrophic state of public services, the shortage of housing, high immigration, etc. They will expect concrete and credible solutions to those problems from the parties vying for power.
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Under their charismatic leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, the Péquistes have demonstrated a knack for developing original policy ideas. Rodriguez's Liberals will have to come up with their own, more convincing proposals. If they are not successful, Quebecers may vote PQ notwithstanding the referendum threat.
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