Quebec Liberal Party leadership race begins Monday

Charles Milliard, candidate for the leadership of the Quebec Liberal Party, delivers a speech at the Quebec Liberal Party leadership convention in Quebec City on Sat., June 14, 2025. (Joel Ryan/The Canadian Press)

The latest Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ) leadership race kicks off Monday to find Pablo Rodriguez’s successor after he resigned while mired in controversy last month.

So far, one candidates has officially thrown his name into the ring: Charles Milliard — former head of the Quebec Federation of Chambers of Commerce.

Milliard came in second behind Rodriguez in the previous race.

Others have floated the idea of vying for the leadership, including farmer Mario Roy, who would be running a second time, former Via Rail Canada President and CEO Yves Desjardins-Siciliano and former Desjardins Group President and CEO Guy Cormier.

Desjardins-Siciliano announced Sunday he changed his mind despite “having received expressions of confidence ... [and] support.”

The former president of the Conseil du patronat, Karl Blackburn, has already announced that he will not be running.

Hopefuls have until Feb. 13 at 5 p.m. to register and enter the leadership race. The new head of the party will be chosen at the PLQ convention March 14.

The latest race will be significantly shorter than the previous, which officially started Jan. 13, 2025 and ended when Rodriguez was elected on June 14.

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The party announced last week it has appointed a “compliance and ethics officer” to ensure compliance with the Election Act in terms of financing for its new leadership race.

Just months after winning his bid last June, Rodriguez was severely criticized following reports alleging some party members were paid to vote for him in the campaign.

Last November, The Journal de Montréal alleged that some 20 donors had been reimbursed for their $500 contributions at a fundraising event.

As a result, the National Assembly adopted a “no-brownies” law, effectively closing a loophole in the province’s electoral law which technically allowed offering a donation in exchange for a vote — provided all candidate expenses were submitted to Quebec’s chief electoral officer.

The PLQ launched an internal investigation into the allegations. Quebec’s anti-corruption police is also investigating the party.

In early December, Rodriguez dismissed former Liberal MNA Marwah Rizqy from her position as parliamentary leader and suspended her from the caucus, citing a “breach of trust,” prompting some backlash. Rizqy now sits as an independent.

While the party saw an uptick in donors and slowly climbed in the polls — a November Leger survey put them five points behind the first-place Parti Québécois — it has since taken a beating.

A December poll published prior to Rodriguez’s resignation placed the PLQ at 21 per cent, down six points from the last Léger poll, much to the PQ’s benefit.

Milliard told CJAD 800 said, were he chosen to run the party, he would “be accountable for what happens, but cannot be accountable for something that happened when [he] was not leader.”

Political analysts have agreed it’s going to be an uphill battle for whoever takes on the mantle in March.

With files from The Canadian Press