Québec solidaire race to replace Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois has begun
Posted August 15, 2025 7:30 am.
Last Updated August 15, 2025 11:52 am.
The race to elect Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois’ successor officially kicked off Friday for Québec solidaire (QS).
There are currently five candidates in the running, according to the Élections Québec website: MNAs Sol Zanetti and Etienne Grandmont, former Regional Director of Public Health for Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine Yv Bonnier Viger, and activists Geru Schneider and Laurie Grand-Maison Lévesque.
Under the recently updated QS bylaws, any member—not just men—can run in this race.
In fact, QS only specifies in its internal Elections Policy that “one of the two positions is reserved for a woman.” In theory, QS could therefore have two female spokespersons, as the other position is held by MNA Ruba Ghazal.
This is why Laurie Grand-Maison Lévesque was able to file her candidacy.
Candidates must collect 500 signatures and make a $10,000 deposit by September 14 to officially be in the race.
Aspiring candidates can spend up to $60,000.
If they wish to vote in the election, QS supporters will have until Oct. 9 to become party members.
Guillaume Cliche-Rivard, the MNA for Saint-Henri–Sainte-Anne, currently holds the position of interim critic.
Nadeau-Dubois’s successor will be announced on Nov. 8 at a party convention.
The outcome of this race will be crucial for QS. The last two years have been difficult for the left-wing party, particularly with the release of former MNA Catherine Dorion’s hard-hitting book and the resignation of Émilise Lessard-Therrien just months after being elected party spokesperson.
Both women criticized Nadeau-Dubois’ leadership. He announced his departure last March, claiming to have been “worn down” by the crises that rocked his party.
QS was also rocked by the controversy sparked by MNA for Maurice-Richard, Haroun Bouazzi, who claimed that he saw “every day” in the National Assembly “the construction of this Other” whose culture “is said to be dangerous or inferior.”
The party didn’t make waves in the Arthabaska byelection held Monday. Candidate Pascale Fortin obtained 1.5 per cent of the vote. In 2022, the party managed to secure nine per cent of the vote, surpassing the Quebec Liberals.
According to polling aggregator Qc125, QS is in fifth place with only 10 per cent of voting intentions – if a general election were held today – and the party could lose half of its seats.
The next Quebec election will be held October 2026.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
