Son of ex-premier Jean Charest to run for Quebec Liberals in Montreal’s Verdun riding

Antoine Dionne Charest, son of former premier Jean Charest, will run in the Verdun riding for the Liberals in the 2026 Quebec elections.

The son of former Quebec premier Jean Charest will be running for the Liberals in the fall provincial election. 

Antoine Dionne Charest was formally nominated Wednesday night in the Verdun riding in Montreal, with his mother and Liberal Leader Charles Milliard in attendance.

Milliard said Dionne Charest is a long-serving Liberal member, and the leader expressed hope his new recruit will be part of the party’s renewal. 

Jean Charest, premier from 2003 to 2012, did not attend the nomination meeting. 

Dionne Charest, meanwhile, said he had absorbed the family values of giving back, and said he has politics in his blood. 

The Verdun riding in southwestern Montreal was once a Liberal stronghold, but it fell to Québec solidaire in 2022.

“My father inspired me to strive for excellence and to serve others,” Dionne Charest said at the nomination meeting, as party supporters applauded. “And I owe him a great debt of gratitude.” 

Most polling suggests the Liberals are running second to the Parti Québécois in voting intentions ahead of the Oct. 5 vote. 

The governing Coalition Avenir Québec, which sits third, is having to contend with an exodus of its elected members; more than 30 have announced their departures.

On Thursday, Culture Minister Mathieu Lacombe is expected to become the latest to say he won’t run again, one day after Labour Minister Jean Boulet made a similar announcement.

Lacombe, who was first elected in 2018, recently raised eyebrows when he told reporters he’d vote “yes” to sovereignty in an eventual referendum, despite his party’s stated promise to defend Quebec’s interests within Canada.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 18, 2026.