The new leader of the Parti Québécois will be elected sometime between Sept. 15 and Oct. 15, party officials announced Saturday.
At a Montreal news conference, officials also indicated the leadership race will be streamlined — not only because of time but also costs. Party president Raymond Archambault said he wanted a modest campaign, one that’s “not too expensive.”
“We will have choices to make,” Archambault said, with interim PQ leader Sylvain Gaudreault standing at his side.
With what appears to be a four-way race emerging, with Alexandre Cloutier and Véronique Hivon leading the pack, Archambault said the party will respect its own rules by having members choose a replacement for Pierre Karl Péladeau, who resigned Monday for family reasons.
Asked about the possibility of avoiding the process and simply crowning a new leader, Archambault said that can’t happen under the PQ’s regulations. A race has to be held if more than one candidate comes forward. When leaders were crowned in the past, it was because no opponents came forward.
“We have no choice,” Archambault said. “The statues say, as soon as there is a vacancy in leadership, we have to have a race.”
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Lucien Bouchard and Pauline Marois were among past PQ leaders who were crowned without a leadership race.
And a fine race does appear to be shaping up, with nobody in particular standing out, meaning that so far, the contest is wide open.
Many of the details — such as spending limits and potential candidates’ debates — have yet to be worked out, but the party has convened a meeting of its 125 riding presidents for the last weekend in May, to approve the final rules and electoral calendar.
It is hoping to finalize the slate of candidates by the end of June.
There is some urgency for the party to get moving in the process, as it needs to have a full time leader in place before its 2017 policy convention and the 2018 general election.
The last PQ leadership race lasted eight long months, more if you include all the pre-campaign manoeuvering.
At a party caucus Friday, Lac Saint-Jean MNA Alexandre Cloutier, who placed second to Péladeau in the 2015 race, all but announced he would make a second run for the leadership.
“My decision is made,” Cloutier said, adding that all that’s left to do is announce his decision publicly, with his spouse by his side.
Hivon, the MNA for Joliette, also clearly wants to run and is believed to have significant caucus support. In the last campaign, she rallied to Cloutier and did not run for family reasons but this time, things are different.
“I am on my own path, with my own autonomy,” Hivon said at the caucus. “I think I am pretty well able to fly with my own wings.”
Two other possible contenders are Rousseau MNA Nicolas Marceau, a former finance minister in the Marois government, and Vachon MNA Martine Ouellet, who appeals to the party’s left wing and environmentalists.
Marie-Victorin MNA Bernard Drainville, who ran against Péladeau, said Friday he will stay as PQ house leader, which rules out his making a second bid.
Not much has been heard from Rosemont MNA Jean-François Lisée, which suggests he will also pass. The one outside candidate, former PQ MNA Jean-Martin Aussant, announced this week he would not run.
Although some PQ veterans have suggested the party could be spared a long, potentially divisive race by crowning one person, most PQ MNAs favour a race, although they also say a short race would be better.
Short would also be cheaper for candidates and the party, which is sitting on a $1.5-million operating deficit from the last election.
In the 2015 leadership race that elected Péladeau, candidate spending was restricted to $400,000 each. Each candidate had to pay $20,000 up front. Only Péladeau came near that total, spending $385,000.
Candidates raise money from party members to cover the costs, which are tabulated and regulated by the province’s chief electoral office.
Archambault said decisions on spending limits will be made this week, following consultations.
