Sol Zanetti is Québec Solidaire’s new co-spokesperson

Quebec Solidaire MNA Sol Zanetti questions the government during question period, Wednesday, November 1, 2023 at the legislature in Quebec City. (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press)

Sol Zanetti won his bid to succeed Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois as co-spokesperson for Québec Solidaire (QS). He will share the role with Ruba Ghazal.

The Jean-Lesage MNA, a fervent separatist, triumphed on Saturday over his Taschereau colleague, Etienne Grandmont, and Dr. Yv Bonnier Viger, garnering 50.4 per cent of the vote in the first round.

He was supported during the campaign by former QS members Émilise Lessard-Therrien and Catherine Dorion, but not by the members of his caucus, who preferred Etienne Grandmont.

“With the threat of authoritarianism and fascism shaking the world, there is an urgent need to (...) mobilize,” he said in his victory speech to some 400 QS supporters gathered in Quebec City.

“There is an urgent need to reconnect with our heritage as dreamers,” added the former philosophy professor.

Sol Zanetti says he is taking on his new role without “naivety,” fully aware of the “difficulty” and “challenge” that await him.

“The slope will be steep,” he said, “but we have time and strong legs.”

“Tonight, Québec solidaire is back!” Ghazal added at his side.

This race for the spokesperson position ends as QS — which is lagging in the polls — desperately seeks to revive its party and start anew.

At a press briefing on Saturday morning, Ghazal said the party was celebrating “a year without crisis” and preparing to present a “simplified and much more digestible” program to the public.

Chicoutimi, a ‘test’ for QS

Until then, the by-election in Chicoutimi will be a “test,” Ghazal said during a joint news conference with candidate Jeanne Palardy.

“It’s a test to show our consistency, that we remain true to our convictions and that we are connected to the people,” said Ghazal.

“This is not usually fertile ground for Québec Solidaire. I mean, I’m going to be realistic,” she added.

The riding of Chicoutimi has been vacant since the departure in September of CAQ minister Andrée Laforest, who ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Saguenay.

The government has six months following the departure of an MNA to call a by-election.

A CAQ stronghold since 2018, Chicoutimi was previously a PQ stronghold. The party ruled there uninterruptedly from 1973 to 2018.

‘Withdraw Bill 2′ on doctors, Ghazal demands

On Saturday, Ghazal also demanded the withdrawal of Bill 2, which changes doctors’ remuneration, imposes performance targets on them, and threatens them with sanctions.

“The healthcare system is in turmoil. (...) At some point, we have to stop,” she said.

According to her, we need to “start from scratch” and “resume negotiations” with doctors in order to “put in place things that are applicable.”

“The law is bad,” she said.

• Quebec doctor exodus grows as more than 310 physicians apply to work in other provinces
• What’s in Quebec’s controversial doctors’ bill?

After Bill 2 was passed through closure on Oct. 25, doctors were “in shock, sad and angry,” according to a Montreal specialist (not affiliated with QS) who spoke to The Canadian Press.

“Now, it’s a kind of disbelief,” he said over the phone, requesting anonymity for fear of causing panic within his department, which is on the verge of losing five of its 12 specialists.

He confided that one of his highly specialized colleagues is eyeing the United States, three others have taken serious steps to move to Ontario or Alberta, and another colleague is considering early retirement.

Empty threats?

“I’m telling you, it’s real. The requests that have already been made to the College of Physicians are just the tip of the iceberg. I can’t speak for others, but in my department, it’s going to happen,” the doctor said.

He explains that physicians are opposed to Bill 2 because it “affects the very essence of medical practice” by imposing “completely unattainable” targets.

To illustrate his point, he explains that his laboratory should technically see 16 patients per week, but for the past two years, he has been seeing four per week.

Why?

“There is a shortage of technologists. Of course I’m never going to meet the ministry’s targets, but that’s because I don’t have the staff!” he said.

Another “very concrete” example: on Friday, three patients did not show up “because their appointments had been poorly scheduled by the appointment center.”

“I was here, available to see them! (...) I have colleagues who are so fed up with having empty slots in their clinic schedules that they schedule their own appointments!

“Give us social workers, physical therapists, occupational therapists, and administrative staff who are capable of scheduling appointments properly,” he summarized.

About 1,000 people gathered in front of the National Assembly last Saturday to protest Bill 2. At least ten times as many protesters are expected at the Bell Centre on Sunday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Nov. 8, 2025.

By Caroline Plante, The Canadian Press