CAQ MNA François Tremblay leaves caucus after drunk driving arrest

Quebec Infrastructure Minister Benoit Charette with his former parliamentary secretary Francois Tremblay, who left the CAQ caucus by mutual consent after an arrest for drunk driving. (Francois Tremblay/Facebook)

The governing Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) party is down another seat after Dubuc MNA François Tremblay was removed from caucus by mutual consent.

Tremblay was arrested on Wednesday for impaired driving after a collision in Saguenay, where his vehicle wound up stuck in a snowbank.

According to police, the driver, who was allegedly Tremblay, blew breath samples at nearly twice the legal alcohol limit.

“Following discussions with the Member for Dubuc, Mr. François Tremblay, it was mutually agreed that he would withdraw from the Coalition Avenir Québec caucus for the duration of the legal proceedings,” said CAQ chief government whip François Jacques in a statement. “No further statements will be made at this time.”

Tremblay has been the MNA for Dubuc in the Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean region since the 2018 provincial election. He also serves as the parliamentary assistant to the Minister responsible for Infrastructure, Benoit Charette.

Dubuc won in 2022 with 57.6 per cent of the vote, almost 11,000 more ballots than the second-place PQ candidate.

The CAQ now drops below 80 seats after having won 90 in the last election.

Before becoming an MNA, Tremblay previously served as a city councillor in the City of Saguenay.