Quebec’s Conservative Party set to have first MNA in office

Quebec Conservative Party leader Éric Duhaime and MNA Maïté Blanchette Vézina hold a press conference in Quebec City on February 11, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot

After several months of speculation, former CAQ minister Maïté Blanchette Vézina is reportedly set to join Éric Duhaime’s Conservative Party of Quebec (PCQ).

The Rimouski MNA is expected to confirm her move to the PCQ on Tuesday.

Duhaime has issued a call for a press conference on Tuesday at the Parliamentary Press Tribune in Quebec City, adding in a social media post that he would have a “representative within the walls of the National Assembly.”

Maïté Blanchette Vézina has participated in Conservative Party activities over the past few months, appearing alongside the party’s leader, suggesting she would be that representative.

The Conservative Party would therefore officially make its debut in the National Assembly, having failed to elect a single member in the 2022 general election or in the subsequent by-elections.

This would mean that the party would have access to National Assembly resources, and as an independent member, Blanchette Vézina is already entitled to speaking time during debates and to ask questions during Question Period.

Furthermore, Duhaime, who is still not an elected official, would therefore be able to hold press events in the legislature’s designated press areas, something he could not do unless invited by an MNA. Appointed Minister of Natural Resources and Forests by Quebec Premier François Legault following the 2022 elections, Blanchette Vézina was removed from her post during the cabinet reshuffle on Sept. 10.

A week later, on Sept. 18, she left the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) caucus to sit as an independent, harshly criticizing the government by claiming it had betrayed the regions.

The Rimouski MNA had not ruled out running for the CAQ again if the party changed leaders, at a time when Legault was still firmly in the saddle.

Her supposed move to the PCQ was announced the day after the Parti Québécois held a nomination meeting on Sunday to select its candidate in Rimouski, Yohann St-Pierre, a medical specialist who practices pediatrics in the region.

Rimouski was historically a PQ stronghold until 2022, when Blanchette Vézina was elected.

It’s unclear whether she will run again in this riding in next fall’s election or whether she will be a candidate in a region more receptive to the Conservative Party’s ideas, such as Chaudière-Appalaches or in the Quebec City region.

- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on March 23, 2026.