Federal Minister Pablo Rodriguez to run for PLQ leadership

Federal Transport Minister Pablo Rodriguez will run for the leadership of the Quebec Liberal Party (QLP). He is expected to make the announcement on Thursday morning in Gatineau.

A federal Liberal source, who was not authorized to speak publicly, confirmed the news to The Canadian Press. It was first reported by La Presse.

Rodriguez will be resigning from his cabinet post this week to concentrate on his leadership bid.

He is also Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Quebec lieutenant.

The QLP have been without a leader since Dominique Anglade resigned following her defeat in the 2022 provincial election.

Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Supply and MP for the Quebec City riding, could not hide the fact that Rodriguez’s departure creates a “void.” The news also comes on the heels of a crushing defeat for the Liberals, who saw their LaSalle-Émard-Verdun seat snatched from them by the Bloc in a byelection.

“It doesn’t really matter whether it’s today, tomorrow or the day before,” said Duclos. “The fact is, he leaves a magnificent legacy for Quebec, an extraordinary support for the players in my riding.”

Rumours that Rodriguez would run for the Liberal leadership had been circulating for several weeks. And according to Duclos, Rodriguez’s decision had been taken “some time ago.”

Stéphane Lauzon, Chair of the Quebec caucus of the federal Liberals, agreed with Duclos, but expressed the disappointment shared by other Liberal MPs who spoke to reporters on their way to the weekly caucus meeting on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.

“It’s a big loss for the Quebec caucus,” said Lauzon, who represents Argenteuil-La Petite-Nation in the Outaouais region.

Veterans Affairs Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor also admitted she was “disappointed” to see Rodriguez go.

The co-chair of the next Liberal campaign, Minister Soraya Martinez Ferrada, says the resigning minister was a “mentor in terms of political strategy” for her.

“He’s a political machine, Pablo.” She denied that Rodriguez could have decided to leave a ship that was beginning to take on water. She noted that the PLQ is not in a very good position at the moment.

“He’s going to go and rebuild something that’s, what, in fourth, fifth (place). I mean, it’s not for opportunism that he’s going to do that,” she concluded.

This departure comes on top of the fact that several Liberal MPs have announced that they will not be seeking re-election in the next few months.

Justin Trudeau’s troops also have to deal with the loss of their campaign manager, Jeremy Broadhurst.

After the Liberals’ defeat in Toronto-St. Paul’s last June, the loss of their stronghold in LaSalle-Émard-Verdun is another blow to the Trudeau government, which was already doing basdly in the polls.

Even before he entered the race, Rodriguez had received the support of provincial Liberal MP Désirée McGraw.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews