Quebec Solidaire race is on to replace Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois

Quebec Solidaire co-speaker Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois speaks at a press conference, Tuesday, February 13, 2024 at the legislature in Quebec City. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Karoline Boucher

The Quebec Solidaire race to elect a successor to Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois officially kicked off on Friday.

Four candidates are currently in the running, according to the Elections Quebec website.

They are QS MNAs Sol Zanetti and Etienne Grandmont, former regional public health director for Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine Yv Bonnier Viger and activist Geru Schneider.

Under the party’s recently updated statutes, any member — not just men — can run in this race.

QS only specifies in its internal election policy that “one of the two positions is reserved for a woman.”

In theory, QS could have two women spokespeople, as the other position is currently held by MNA Ruba Ghazal.

Candidates need to collect 500 signatures and deposit $10,000 by Sept. 14 to be officially in the race.

Aspiring spokespeople will be able to spend up to a maximum of $60,000.

QS supporters who want to vote in the leadership election will have until Oct. 9 to become party members.

Guillaume Cliche-Rivard, MNA for Saint-Henri–Sainte-Anne, is currently serving as interim spokesperson.

Nadeau-Dubois’s successor is slated to be announced on Nov. 8 at a party convention.

Decisive moment

The outcome of the race is expected to be decisive for QS.

The last two years have been difficult for the left-wing party, notably with the release of former MNA Catherine Dorion’s hard-hitting book and the resignation of Émilise Lessard-Therrien months after being elected party spokesperson.

Both women criticized Nadeau-Dubois’s leadership.

He, in turn, announced his departure last March, saying he was “worn out” by the crises that had affected his party, including Maurice-Richard MNA Haroun Bouazzi claiming that he saw “every day” in the National Assembly “the creation of the ‘other’” whose culture “is dangerous or inferior.”

Additionally, QS scored poorly in Monday’s byelection in Arthabaska, with candidate Pascale Fortin obtaining a meagre 1.5 per cent of votes.

In 2022, she garnered nine per cent, surpassing the Liberals.

According to poll aggregator Qc125, QS is currently in fifth place with 10 per cent of voting intentions.

If the provincial election were held today, the party could lose half of its seats.

The next election is expected to be held in October 2026.

In a previous version, The Canadian Press reported that there were five candidates in the running, including Laurie Grand-Maison Lévesque.

However, the Elections Québec website indicates that Grand-Maison Lévesque withdrew her candidacy on Aug. 12.

- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Aug. 15, 2025.