Journalist Alex Boissonneault, host of Radio-Canada Québec’s Première heure, will be the Parti Québécois (PQ) candidate in the Arthabaska byelection. The PQ confirmed the information on Monday, saying in a written response that “the announcement in due form and the answers to questions will be made on Wednesday in Arthabaska.” Éric Duhaime, leader of the Quebec Conservative Party and candidate in Arthabaska, is hoping to win his party its first seat in the National Assembly in the byelection. The Conservatives had 13 per cent of the vote in the last election, but did not elect any members to the National Assembly. Last Monday, Duhaime spoke of Boissonneault as “a nice guy who I’m sure we’ll enjoy debating.” “I know Alex well. He has interviewed me on several occasions, and I have appeared on his radio show in Quebec City,” wrote the Conservative leader on X. A former parliamentary correspondent for Radio-Canada in Quebec City, Boissonneault was still on the air hosting the morning show last Friday. Later that day, Duhaime changed his tune. In a press release, the Conservative leader reacted to reports in the media about the PQ candidate’s “criminal past.” In 2001, when he was 22, Boissonneault was stopped for weapons possession a few days before the Summit of the Americas. He and five other members of the Germinal group, of which he was a member, were found to be in possession of balaclavas, baseball bats, shields, slingshots, smoke bombs, gas masks and steel balls, the media reported at the time. The police said that it had reason to believe that they were preparing firebombs, given the timer and accelerant devices found during a search. The group was released just over a month after their arrest, with the court ruling that they posed no risk to society. “Did Mr. Plamondon know that Mr. Boissonneault had been found guilty of conspiracy to commit a misdemeanour? Does Mr. Plamondon think that the 40 days Mr. Boissonneault spent in prison erase his crime? Has Mr. Plamondon made sure that Mr. Boissonneault is no longer an anti-capitalist and extreme leftist?” he asked. “PSPP is good at lecturing others and attacking the ethics of his opponents. Why this two-facedness when it comes to its own candidate?” he added. Poll aggregator Qc125 predicts a very tight three-way race in Arthabaska between the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), the PQ and the Conservatives. The seat was vacated after former CAQ MNA Éric Lefebvre jumped into federal politics. He was elected on April 28 with the Conservative Party of Canada in Richmond-Arthabaska. Premier François Legault has until September to call the byelection. However, he seemed in no hurry to do so at a press briefing in Nicolet on Monday. “First of all, welcome Mr. Boissonneault. Like all governments, we have six months to call an election. Now we have the summer, so what’s the best time to get the most people out to vote? I think it’s been about a month since he left, so it’s going to be in the next five months,” he said. This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on May 12, 2025.
