Quebec Liberals 'at a crossroads' as leadership race kicks off

As the federal Liberals prepare to choose Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's successor, another Liberal leadership race is getting underway in Quebec this week.

The stakes are high for the Quebec Liberals, who have been in the political wilderness for years, with dismal polling among francophone voters. Candidates and observers say the party needs to broaden its appeal beyond Montreal if it's to have any chance of forming government in the 2026 provincial election.

The campaign will unfold in the shadow of the race taking shape in Ottawa. And with Trudeau's former Quebec lieutenant, Pablo Rodriguez, the likely front-runner, the Quebec Liberals will have to set themselves apart from a federal party in turmoil.

"Let's face it," said political analyst Karim Boulos. "It's not a great time to be a Liberal."

The Quebec Liberal Party is the province's oldest political brand and the party that has spent the most time in power. But the Liberals suffered their worst defeat in decades in the 2018 election that swept François Legault and his conservative-leaning Coalition Avenir Québec into office.

Then in 2022, they fared even worse.

They currently hold just 19 of 125 seats in the provincial legislature, mostly in and around Montreal. The concentration of Liberal voters in the city allowed them to hang on to Official Opposition status.

"The Quebec Liberal Party is at a crossroads right now," said leadership candidate Charles Milliard, the former head of the federation of Quebec chambers of commerce. "I think the party needs a breath of fresh air and a generational renewal."

The race, which officially begins Monday, could stir up much-needed excitement for the party. Rodriguez, who held a number of cabinet portfolios in Ottawa, announced his bid for the leadership in September. Former Montreal mayor Denis Coderre has also said he will run.

But attempts to attract another heavyweight, federal Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne, have so far not borne fruit, with Champagne considering a run for the federal leadership.

Milliard, 45, said the party needs to steer away from identity issues, including secularism and language, that have been a major feature of Legault's time in office. He plans to run a campaign on "bread-and-butter" matters like health care, education and public finances.

"The Quebec Liberal Party is the only political party in Quebec that can talk to all Quebecers," he said. "In recent years, the CAQ and the Parti Québécois (PQ) have demonstrated that they can be very divisive."

The Liberals have struggled to mount a compelling answer to the CAQ, which has positioned itself as the party of the economy, historically Liberal turf.

As Legault has said, his promise not to hold a referendum also means the Liberals no longer have a "monopoly of being against sovereignty."