Youri Chassin quits CAQ to sit as Independent, second member to leave this month

Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin announced Thursday he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent, becoming the second member of government to quit in a little more than one week.

Chassin’s announcement came hours after he wrote an open letter published in local media criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.

In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the CAQ of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.

“I was afraid that Quebec would become the republic of the status quo … but the CAQ was going to change that, Chassin told reporters Thursday in Quebec City after announcing his departure.

“And, unfortunately, the energy and audacity needed to shake up the status quo seem to have dissipated.”

Chassin, who was part of the CAQ’s conservative wing, said public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget. An economist by training, Chassin was director of research at the Montreal Economic Institute, a right-leaning think tank, before entering politics.

He said he delivered a similar message to caucus colleagues in Rimouski, Que., last week and met Legault on Wednesday, but didn’t hear the response he was hoping for from the premier.

“I need to feel that we are ready to return to the audacity we had in the first mandate,” Chassin said, referring to such things as the adoption of the secularism bill, the deregulation of the taxi industry, the abolishment school boards, and cuts in income taxes.

He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.

Last April, Eric Lefebvre, the government whip, left to sit as an Independent because he intends to join Pierre Poilievre’s federal Conservatives. In July 2023, Joëlle Boutin quit the party and her Quebec City riding of Jean-Talon was captured by the Parti Québécois in a subsequent byelection.

Chassin said he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term. He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.