Ruba Ghazal admits mistakes & says she wants QS to regain its ‘North Star’

Québec solidaire (QS) should not have left its candidate Nadia Poirier alone on election night in Terrebonne. “It was a mistake,” acknowledged party co-spokesperson Ruba Ghazal on Monday.

At a press briefing at the National Assembly, Ghazal reflected on the last few days, which have been difficult for QS, saying she wanted the party to regain its “North Star.”

Not only did QS achieve a disastrous result in the by-election in Terrebonne, but three days later, it had to deal with the announcement of the departure of its leading figure, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois.

Last Thursday, Nadeau-Dubois announced that he was stepping down as male co-spokesperson and would not run again in the 2026 election.

“I want to speak to (…) all the people who care about social progress in Quebec. I know their concerns, their feelings of insecurity, and their need to find solutions. (…) I want to reassure them,” Ghazal declared on Monday.

She stated that she intends to continue the “projects” initiated by her colleague Nadeau-Dubois in the hope of forming the next government.

“We are in the process of (…) updating (…) our platform,” she explained. “We have made changes (…) to simplify the functioning of our party. (…) We are continuing them.”

Crowned parliamentary leader of the QS last Friday, Ghazal confided that she feels, in the face of the rising right, “the weight of the responsibility we have today.”

“We are the one and only left-wing party in Quebec,” the MNA for Mercier said. “Everywhere I go, people tell me: ‘We need you. Bravo for what you are doing, you are carrying our voice.'”

“So, I want us to be that unashamed, unashamed left that isn’t afraid.”

Unfortunately, “we’re not being heard,” she said, while dismissing the idea of ​​merging with the Parti Québécois, which has been leading the opinion polls for several months.

“My vision (…) is inclusive nationalism. We need to include everyone. (…) This project is not shared by (PQ leader) Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, who has other obsessions, notably wokeism,” she said.

The QS co-spokesperson admits that the party of Françoise David and Amir Khadir, which has experienced numerous internal crises over the past year, must find its “North Star.”

In a lengthy plea, she declared that QS must once again become the party of workers and fight, in particular, against “the cost of living crisis and the dilapidated state of our public services.”

Ghazal also expressed regret for the treatment meted out to Poirier during the Terrebonne by-election.

Poirier vented her feelings last Wednesday in a Reddit thread, lamenting having received very little help from QS during the campaign, which ran from Feb. 11 to March 17.

“It was a mistake that no elected official was present (on election night). I take that blame,” Ghazal declared for the first time on Monday.

QS will soon launch a third race for spokesperson in two years, this time to fill the position of male co-spokesperson; Until then, the MNA for Saint-Henri—Sainte-Anne, Guillaume Cliche-Rivard, will serve as interim spokesperson.

The new co-spokesperson will be elected at the party’s convention, which will be held from Nov. 7 to 9.

Cliche-Rivard confirmed Monday that he will not be in the race, citing family reasons.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews