The Parti Québécois leadership election of 2005 was held from November 13 to November 15, 2005, to elect the new leader of the Parti Québécois, the main sovereigntist and social democratic political party in Quebec, Canada.
It was the second race of its kind in the history of the party, following the leadership election of 1985. It was conducted in two rounds, under a preferential voting system. Former Minister André Boisclair was elected at the first round ballot with 53.7% of votes from party members, making him the first openly gay leader of a major political party in North America, and one of the first in the world.
Unfolding
Background On June 4, 2005, party leader Bernard Landry announced his intention to resign as leader of the PQ after getting 76.2% in a vote of confidence in his leadership from delegates to the party National Council. The party appointed Louise Harel as its interim leader. Gilles Duceppe, leader of the federal-level sovereigntist political party, the Bloc Québécois, was expected to be a strong candidate if he had decided to run. On June 11, he however announced that he would remain leader of the Bloc despite pressure to make a bid for the leadership of the PQ.
Campaign
After months of pre-campaign, the race officially began on September 15, 2005, the official deadline for entering the race. Soon, Boisclair emerged as a favorite in the polls, with Pauline Marois second, Richard Legendre a close third and Louis Bernard fourth. The validity of these polls, much touted by the media, was however challenged by some candidate organizations since they were conducted on the whole population of Quebec, rather than the actual voter pool, the legal members of the Parti Québécois. Also criticized was the intense media focus on the four candidates leading in these said polls, leaving the ideas of the other candidates in the dark. The later were much less discussed and their opening monologues were even cut for pundit commentary in LCN live broadcastings of the official candidates' debates.
An early, albeit brief issue in the campaign was the so-called Affaire Boisclair. On September 10, 2005, Le Devoir columnist Michel David referred in his column to a relatively unnoticed past article of Le Droit alluding to rumours of André Boisclair having lived a wild younger life and taken cocaine. Boisclair initially recognized a youth of partying and mistakes. Days later, after much media pressure, he admitted to having "consumed". Ironically, this only made his popularity stronger in polling, something credited by pundits to popular sympathy in the face of the weight of the media scrutiny. The fact that Boisclair came out in 2000 on the subject of his homosexuality did not hampered his campaign either. Polls showed that more than 90% of Quebecers were not opposed to a gay Premier of Quebec. On public perceptions, Pauline Marois also raised the theory that her campaign was hurt by the fact that she was female.
Boisclair, being the frontrunner, became the target of many other candidates and their supporters. Adding to the problematic "wild past" reputation the candidate had gained from the Affaire Boisclair, some progressive militants put into question Boisclair's left-wing values. A group of most progressive candidates, Pierre Dubuc, Jean Ouimet, Gilbert Paquette and Jean-Claude St-André, soon grew closer to Marois, not only because of her experience and her safer known past, but also because of perceived stronger progressive values. Shortly before the vote, Paquette withdrew, announcing his support for Marois. The left-wing SPQ-Libre faction of the party asked the Dubuc supporters to vote for Marois as second choice, as did Ouimet. Ghislain Lebel asked his supporters to vote for Boisclair on the second ballot.
Ideas A number of ideas were put forward by the candidates, especially during the official candidates' debates held across Quebec. Amongst others, André Boisclair expounded a debt reduction plan and spoke of free higher education provided by the state. Richard Legendre talked much of more autonomy for Quebec regions. Pauline Marois spoke of water nationalization in an eventual Eau-Québec, like what was created with Hydro-Québec for electricity during the Quiet Revolution. As part of the struggle against poverty, Dubuc, Marois, Ouimet and Paquette supported a guaranteed minimum income system.
Many candidates focused on public transportation and wind power. Lebel was noted for the humour he brought to the debates. However, his more conservative political beliefs made him a black sheep in the midst of the largely progressive slate of candidates. St-André defended the ideas of the pur et dur party stream, notably that of making gestures of rupture with the rest of Canada, which were sovereign state actions before sovereignty contrary to the Canadian constitution. The strongest consensus between all candidates was that most of these projects were possible only through national independence.
Vote The voting was conducted by phone from November 13 to November 15, 2005, through a system used for popular votes for the Star Académie television show. The winner of the party leadership election was declared on November 15, 2005. The date was chosen in honour of the anniversary of the first electoral victory of the Parti Québécois on November 15, 1976. The election took place under a system of preferential voting in two rounds.
Public debates The seven public debates were orchestrated by election president Lyne Marcoux. They were broadcast live via the Parti Québécois official website, pq.org, and the LCN television news channel. In order to allow substantial and orderly exchanges with such a number of people, every occasion was divided into a series of three discussions, amongst three candidates each. Candidate groupings were set at random. Additionally, for every debate, opening and closing speeches were addressed, and selected questions from the audience and the internet were debated. This selection was executed by an impartial panel led by Monique Richard, the party president.
Solidarity and public finances The debate on solidarity and public finances took place on September 21, 2005, in Sherbrooke. On solidarity, the project of a guaranteed minimum income gathered Dubuc, Marois, Paquette and Ouimet. Boisclair said himself open to a debate on free higher education covered by the state and declared education his priority. He presented a public debt reduction plan. A fierce confrontation occurred between St-André and Boisclair when the former repeatedly challenged the latter to engage himself in fighting corporate tax evasion, which he finally did. Boisclair also defended the Zero Deficit policy of the previous Parti Québécois government of Lucien Bouchard, of which Boisclair was part.
Sustainable development and economy The debate on sustainable development and economy took place on September 28, 2005, in Montreal. Most candidates focused on public transportation and wind power, with Marois promising water nationalization in the form of an "Eau-Québec" Crown corporation. Richard Legendre clashed with Boisclair over the latter's alleged slowness to trigger a referendum, with Boisclair supporting a referendum launched "as soon as possible during the next mandate" in line with the party's 2005 platform and Legendre advocating one within his first year in power. Legendre also criticized the way Boisclair adopted his moratorium on pigsties while being Minister of the Environment.
Culture The debate on culture took place on October 12, 2005, in Trois-Rivières. Ouimet underlined that making sure artists never fall into the poverty gap is the way to have a healthy culture in Quebec. Candidates also discussion on the Charter of the French Language.
Sovereignty and leadership The debate on sovereignty and leadership took place on October 19, 2005, in Quebec City. Since the method and pace of attaining independence was usually hotly debated in the party, media commentators predicted that it would be the most tumultuous of the seven. The debate was ultimately described as surprisingly non-confrontational.
Territory The debate on territory took place on October 26, 2005, in Rimouski.
Education The debate on education took place on November 2, 2005, in Saguenay.
Health The debate on health took place on November 9, 2005, in Gatineau.
Candidates
Official Candidates listed have collected at least 1000 signatures from 40 different ridings, with a minimum of 10 signatures per riding. In order of official candidacy, they were:
Richard Legendre - Former professional tennis player and former Minister of Sports. He is considered close to François Legault. Puts forward plans of more autonomy for Quebec regions. Louis Bernard - Former Chief of Staff to Parti Québécois Premier René Lévesque and former Secretary general of the Government to Parti Québécois Premiers René Lévesque and Jacques Parizeau. André Boisclair - Former Minister of the Environment and House Leader. Polls show him to be the frontrunner. Notably centers his plans on education (with plans of free, state-provided higher education) and debt reduction. Pauline Marois - Former Minister of Finance, former Minister of Education and former Deputy Premier of Quebec. Ghislain Lebel - Former Bloc Québécois Member of Parliament who quit his seat in 2002. He is more conservative than the other candidates and the party center and advocates a more traditional form of nationalism. Wishes that the party would do more to appeal to voters of the right-wing Action démocratique du Québec. Jean-Claude St-André - Parti Québécois Member of the National Assembly, considered a pur et dur close to Robert Laplante's strategy of gestures of rupture with Canada between an eventual PQ victory and the attainment of independence. Is a harsh critic of corporate tax evasion. Pierre Dubuc - Official candidate of the SPQ Libre left-wing and pro-union political club and editor of the left-wing paper L'aut'journal. Gilbert Paquette - Progressive former minister under René Lévesque. Jean Ouimet - Former head of the Green Party of Quebec and former adviser to Parti Québécois leader Jacques Parizeau. Has plans for sustainable development, wealth distribution (national and international), participatory democracy, the elaboration of a social contract and a party direction through collegiality.
Withdrawals Hugues Cormier - Physician and candidate in the riding of Crémazie in the 2003 election. Controversy brought him to pull out three days after officially entering the race. Gilles Hébert - Former public service union representative. Gilles Paquette - Former Parti Québécois candidate. Did not gather enough signatures in time for the deadline. Had a project of a sovereign Quebec state combining republicanism and monarchy, opposite to most of the final official candidates plans for a Quebec republic.
Declined Maxime Barakat - Militant of the Parti Québécois. Subsequently, supported Pauline Marois. Camil Bouchard - Member of the National Assembly. Threw his support behind Louis Bernard. Jean-Pierre Charbonneau - Former cabinet minister and former President of the National Assembly. Gilles Duceppe - Bloc Québécois leader. He declined, notably to honor his promise of contesting the next federal election at the BQ helm. Joseph Facal - Former cabinet minister considered more centrist than other PQ members. He cited the professional and family commitments that led him to quit the cabinet in 2003. He has since sided with candidate Pauline Marois. Bernard Landry - Former leader. A number of people requested that he become a candidate at the race for his own succession. After a summer reflection, the former Premier declined. Laurent M. Leclerc - Singer and actor. François Legault - Former cabinet minister and past well-known aspirant to the leadership. He cited family commitments.