Former PCQ, CAQ candidates join Quebec Liberals at party convention
Posted June 6, 2026 12:46 pm.
Last Updated June 6, 2026 2:14 pm.
Victor Pelletier, the former president of the youth wing of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), has decided to defect and join the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ). He says he was disappointed by his former party’s deficits and felt “uncomfortable” with the way identity issues were being addressed.
“When we talk about immigration, we always have to be careful. We’re talking about people who are simply looking to live a better life than they had before. We always have to discuss this topic with respect. I sometimes felt we were cutting corners. That our tone wasn’t necessarily welcoming,” he explained Saturday during the PLQ General Council meeting in Sherbrooke.
Observers have claimed that the new Premier Christine Fréchette is more “left-leaning” than her predecessor, François Legault. But for Pelletier, it’s still the same party. He believes the “third way” has “lost its original purpose.”
“When I joined the CAQ in 2016, sound management of public finances was still one of the top priorities. And running budget deficits is still heartbreaking,” he said.
The 24-year-old says he was drawn to Liberal leader Charles Milliard’s openness to renewing the PLQ. “There’s a certain willingness to reach beyond the Island of Montreal.”
Pelletier ran as a CAQ candidate in the 2023 by-election in Saint-Henri–Sainte-Anne. He lost to Québec Solidaire’s Guillaume Cliche-Rivard. He does not plan to run as a Liberal candidate in the next election.
Duhaime is ‘shooting at anything that moves’
Pelletier isn’t the only one who was won over by Milliard. The same goes for Ange Claude Bigilimana, who ran as a candidate for Éric Duhaime’s Conservatives on two occasions.
Bigilimana now accuses his former leader of lacking a “solid guiding principle” and of “shooting at anything that moves.”
“That doesn’t represent my values,” he says.
Bigilimana ran for the Conservatives in the 2022 general election in the riding of Mille-Îles, and then in the 2025 by-election in Terrebonne. He also served as national vice-president of the PCQ.
But the break with his former political party is now complete. Last week on LinkedIn, he wrote that the Conservative leader had “lacked class” toward Premier Fréchette by calling her an “old lady.”
Bigilimana, who was present Saturday at the PLQ General Council meeting in Sherbrooke, considers Milliard to be the only political leader with a positive stance on immigrants.
“What I love about Mr. Milliard is his political maturity and balance. Among all the leaders currently in the National Assembly, it seems like he’s the adult among the children,” he explained.
“I’ve listened to many of Mr. Milliard’s speeches, and I realize that he is the leader for me. So, he speaks to me more—whether it’s on economic issues, family matters, or the unity of Quebec,” added Bigilimana.
Bigilimana previously voted for the Parti Québécois when the party was led by Pauline Marois. He now asserts that the sovereignist party led by Paul St-Pierre Plamondon “is divided.”
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
