Quebec Liberal Party: Pablo Rodriguez insists he’s staying on as leader

Despite the pressure mounting on him, Quebec Liberal Leader Pablo Rodriguez insists he’s staying in his position and that he can still win the next election.

“I was elected by the party members because they know I have the experience to defeat the CAQ, to defeat the Parti Québécois. They elected me because they knew I was capable of winning. I will do everything in my life to achieve this. I have not only fought but I have won every time, and I will do it again, and we will defeat the CAQ and the Parti Québécois.

“I’m going nowhere.”

The last straw?

On Wednesday, the Unité permanente anticorruption (UPAC) launched a criminal investigation into the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ).

Several PLQ figures have spoken out in various media outlets calling for the leader’s resignation, or at least urging him to reconsider his future.

According to former Liberal MNA Christine St-Pierre, the UPAC investigation is the last straw.

“It’s undermining his leadership… It’s up to him to make the decision, but I urge him to seriously consider the party’s best interests,” she told The Canadian Press in an interview on Thursday.

Former Liberal MNA Serge Simard, for his part, is calling for Rodriguez’s resignation.

“The die is cast. The damage is done. So, from this point on, if we want to put this behind the party — a party that has done a great deal for Quebec, it must be said— — we have to stop this and replace the leader. We have no choice, we’ve reached this point,” he stated.

Simard supported Charles Milliard in the leadership race. He is urging him to re-enter the race if the Liberal leader were to step down. “I had confidence in Charles. I still have faith. If he decides to do it, good, that will be perfect.”

“The situation the party is in is extremely worrying,” Rodriguez’s former leadership rival Karl Blackburn told RDI on Wednesday. “I think Mr. Rodriguez, in this context, certainly needs to ask himself some serious questions.”

Blackburn also didn’t rule out replacing Rodriguez should he decide to leave.

“It’s clear that if six months ago I thought I could become the leader of the Quebec Liberal Party and the premier of Quebec, six months later, I still think so,” he added.

Former Liberal minister Jean D’Amour has asked Rodriguez to resign for the good of the party.

“I think the time has come for him to prove his commitment to the party and, unfortunately, to leave,” D’Amour said in an interview with The Canadian Press on Wednesday. “I’m not doing this lightly, but I’m talking to party members, I’m talking to association presidents, and these people are a little fed up, exasperated by the situation.”

In recent weeks, several troubling news stories have emerged in the media regarding Rodriguez’s leadership race.

‘We are deeply hurt’

At the caucus, the mood among elected officials was sombre. Liberal MNA Enrico Ciccone said his constituents were starting to talk to him about the situation within his party.

“We are going through a very difficult time right now,” Ciccone said. “We are deeply hurt. We work so hard for our people in our ridings. What we want to know is the whole truth.”

“These are extremely difficult times,” added Liberal MNA Monsef Derraji. “Every day, we learn new things. I want to reiterate that I was not involved in any candidate’s campaign.”

The parliamentary leader, André Fortin, reaffirmed his support for Rodriguez: “I have complete confidence in Mr. Rodriguez’s integrity. The investigations are underway to uncover all the facts. I want us to get to the bottom of this.”

“I’m ready to go to war with him,” added MNA Linda Caron. “Nothing wrong was done during the campaign.”

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews