Quebec Liberal crisis: Hinse responds to Rizqy

Independent MNA Marwah Rizqy walks up question period at the legislature in Quebec City for the first time since she was excluded from the Liberal caucus, Tuesday, February 3, 2026 (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press)

The saga at the Quebec Liberal Party continues.

Geneviève Hinse is refuting Marwah Rizqy’s claims that she tried to circumvent the rules so that “a staff member paid by the National Assembly could devote themselves to partisan work instead of their duties.”

Court documents filed with the Superior Court, copies of which were obtained by The Canadian Press, state that “it is false to claim that Ms. Hinse proposed ‘falsely assigning duties to employees on paper to attach them to an elected official, when in reality they would be working for Mr. Rodriguez,’” as Rizqy claims in her defence.

• READ MORE: Liberal party crisis: MNA Marwah Rizqy says she is at peace with herself

After his victory as leader of the Liberals, Pablo Rodriguez — who did not have a seat in the National Assembly — appointed Rizqy as parliamentary leader. Hinse, one of Rodriguez’s long-time collaborators, then became her chief of staff.

But relations between the two women soured. Rizqy fired Hinse without first discussing it with the Liberal leader. In response, Rodriguez expelled the Saint-Laurent MNA from caucus.

Hinse is suing Rizqy for $500,000 for “unfounded dismissal.”

In Rizqy’s statement of defence, the MNA argues that, despite her warnings, Hinse and Rodriguez wanted to violate the rules of the National Assembly by ignoring the Ethics Commissioner and hiring staff paid by the National Assembly for “partisan purposes.”

In her reply, Hinse argues that it’s “common practice” for staff members and elected officials to devote “significant hours to partisan activities beyond their duties, which are legally and contractually limited to a maximum of 40 hours per week,” as long as they remain available for their other tasks.

This is especially true when employees have to work with an extra-parliamentary leader, she noted.

“It is for this reason that Ms. Hinse wanted to ensure with the Ethics Commissioner that parliamentary resources were being used according to the rules,” the reply states.

According to Rizqy, Rodriguez also wanted two special advisors to be hired using National Assembly funds to respond to the Parti Québécois’ Blue Book.

The former chief of staff’s document states that “at no time did Ms. Hinse or Mr. Rodriguez dictate that they (the two special advisors) be hired through the National Assembly.”

“It is also highly defamatory to imply, as Ms. Rizqy does, that Ms. Hinse, Mr. Rodriguez, or the candidates considered for these positions would have accepted a mandate that did not comply with the rules of the National Assembly,” the document adds.

Hinse also asserts that she never “showed insubordination related to the use of parliamentary resources for partisan purposes,” as Rizqy accuses her of doing.

She maintains that Rizqy had no “serious misconduct” to accuse her of and that her refusal to justify herself was intended to harm her and harm Rodriguez.

Hinse’s dismissal was the trigger that plunged the Liberal Party into a deep crisis that ended with Rodriguez’s resignation last December. He was mired in allegations of irregularities in the financing of his leadership campaign.

Rizqy made a remarkable return to the National Assembly on Tuesday. The Saint-Laurent MNA assured that she was at peace with herself and with the actions she was “forced” to take.

She reserved her comments on the events of the past few months that have rocked the Liberals due to the “lawsuit for defamation” against her.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Feb. 4, 2026.