Quebec Solidaire names Ruba Ghazal as candidate for Mercier

CTV Montreal: New candidate For the first time in a decade, Quebec solidaire will have a new candidate in Mercier after Amir Khadir announced he’s resigning.

Quebec Solidaire is choosing a relative unknown as a candidate to run in the riding being vacated by MNA Amir Khadir.

Ruba Ghazal is a long-time political activist who has been a supporter of Quebec Solidaire since the party was founded. She has run for office twice before in the riding of Laurier-Dorion in 2007 and 2008.

She said she feels confident about her chances and hopes the next election will see Quebecers elect more MNAs from the party, which currently has three seats in the National Assembly.

"What we would like and what we think we would be able for the next election in October 2018 is to have more, to have six, seven, eight, ten. We have a really good team with people coming from different fields and different areas and very diversified experiences and we have a solid team and I'm sure that other candidates will join our team of three deputies next October. I'm very very confident in that," said Ghazal.

Born in Beirut, Ghazal immigrated to Quebec at the age of 10, and earned a bachelor's degree in accounting from HEC Montreal and a master's degree in environment science at the Université de Sherbrooke.

She has worked at Bombardier and Church & Dwight in environmental management and health and safety. She is now Director of Health, Safety and Environment at O-I, a manufacturer of glass containers.

Khadir was first elected in the Mercier riding in 2008, the first Quebec Solidaire MNA to be elected. He was re-elected in 2012 and 2014, and announced last week that he would not run again.