CAQ MNA booted from caucus after considering joining the Liberals

Premier François Legault has expelled the MNA for Laporte, Isabelle Poulet, after she considered crossing the floor to join Pablo Rodriguez’s Liberals.

“You can’t be a member of one party while shopping around for another. That’s a serious mistake. Quebecers are asking us for concrete results. To deliver these changes, we need a strong and united team,” Legault said in a press release Tuesday evening.

Rodriguez said Tuesday morning that Isabelle Poulet had approached his party on several occasions because she was ”interested in joining the ranks of the Quebec Liberal Party."

“I want to be very clear, we have other plans for the riding of Laporte,” Rodriguez said.

Poulet was scheduled to meet with the press Tuesday morning to make “a statement regarding her political future” but it was cancelled at the last minute.

She met with the premier on Tuesday afternoon. A source close to the matter said she was considering her political future because of the special law on doctors.

“It was the last straw,” said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to speak publicly.

However, the Laporte MNA had defended Bill 2 when it was passed under closure a little over a week ago.

“We are convinced that the changes already in place with this reform will improve the care provided to the population. We are motivated to continue our work to ensure a healthcare system worthy of our citizens. Madam Speaker, we will not give up,” she said at the time.

Poulet was first elected in 2022. Prior to that, she was a city councilor for the City of Sainte-Julie.

The controversial Bill 2 introduced by Health Minister Christian Dubé has provoked the ire of Quebec doctors. Among other things, the bill revises how they are paid.

Last week, Lionel Carmant resigned from his position as minister and left the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) because of Bill 2.

Carmant admitted to experiencing tensions with his family. His daughter, Laurence Carmant, also a doctor, published an open letter in Le Devoir criticizing the Legault government’s reform.

On Tuesday morning, Suzanne Blais, MNA for Abitibi-Ouest, acknowledged that there was “room for improvement” in Dubé’s bill. When asked if he would resign, Luc Provençal, Member of Parliament for Beauce-Nord, replied, “I’m not there yet.”

“Changing the Quebec model is never easy,” said Samuel Poulin, Minister for the Economy.

Vanier-Les Rivières MNA Mario Asselin admitted that Bill 2 was “not easy” to explain to his constituents.

Since 2022, in addition to Poulet, eight CAQ members have left or been kicked out: Joëlle Boutin, Pierre Fitzgibbon, Youri Chassin, Eric Lefebvre, Pierre Dufour, Maïté Blanchette Vézina, Andrée Laforest, and Lionel Carmant.

The CAQ is struggling in the polls. The Qc125 poll aggregator indicates that Legault’s party could end up with no MNAs if elections were held today.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French Nov. 4, 2025.

By Thomas Laberge, The Canadian Press