There will be leadership race to replace Pierre Karl Péladeau as the head of the Parti Québécois.
Lac Saint-Jean MNA Alexandre Cloutier made it official Friday, announcing in Alma that he will run. He is the second candidate to enter the race. Joliette MNA Véronique Hivon launched her campaign Monday.
Cloutier’s launch was a show of strength, his campaign backed by the party brass.
On hand at the Boîte à bleuets concert hall in Alma were eight caucus members including the dean of the party, Abitibi-Ouest MNA François Gendron and former deputy-house leader Agnès Maltais.
“I am ready today to assume the important duties of leader of the PQ,” Cloutier told the crowd.
And confirming he has the full support of his family in the arduous business of politics, he was introduced by his wife, Marie-Claude Perron.
“His decision is our decision,” Perron said. “Our family is ready to share Alexandre with the rest of Quebec.”
This will be Cloutier’s second attempt to win the PQ crown. He placed second, to Péladeau, in 2015, earning 29 per cent of the vote.
A young father with two children, the 38-year-old Cloutier, a lawyer and constitutional expert, has represented the riding since 2007.
Cambridge educated and bilingual, Cloutier served as minister of intergovernmental affairs in the old Marois government.
A third candidate is expected to announce soon. Vachon MNA Martine Ouellet, who placed third in 2015, is expected to announce she is running within days.
And pressure is building on Rosemont MNA Jean-François Lisée to run, if only to push the other candidates to take clearer stands on issues.
The party will elect its new leader sometime between mid-September and mid-October.
