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Quebec NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice said Monday that he’s seriously considering running for Québec Solidaire in this year’s provincial election.
French-language media had first reported last week that Boulerice was looking into running for the progressive sovereignist party this fall.
“Right now I have a mandate. I am a federal member of Parliament, I’m going to do my job. But everything is open. I am thinking about it,” Boulerice said when asked by reporters on Parliament Hill if he was considering a provincial bid.
Québec Solidaire was founded 20 years ago when several progressive provincial parties merged — some of them whose roots trace back to a disbanded Quebec wing of the NDP.
If Boulerice makes the leap it would leave the NDP without a seat in Quebec.
Last ripple of the ‘Orange Wave’?
First elected in 2011, Boulerice is the last remaining MP from the “Orange Wave” that swept the province under former leader Jack Layton in that year’s federal election.
B.C. NDP MP Gord Johns told reporters that Boulerice would be a big loss for the party if he decided to leave federal politics.
“Alex has just been a tremendous MP. It would be a huge hit to our party,” Johns said.
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In the final NDP leadership debate on Thursday night, moderator Hannah Thibedeau pressed the candidates to state their primary goal for leadership: become Canada’s next prime minister or rebuild the New Democratic Party. All but one candidate said their objective is to rebuild. (Video credit: NDP)
If Boulerice does try his hand at provincial politics, his resignation would likely leave an opening for the Bloc Québécois or Liberals to pick up the Montreal riding in a byelection. The Bloc held the riding prior to 2011 and the Liberals are currently polling well nationally.
The NDP, on the other hand, hasn’t had a strong presence in Quebec in years.
Boulerice is the NDP’s only representative east of Manitoba after the party’s dismal election result in April.
The NDP only re-elected seven MPs and former leader Jagmeet Singh lost his seat. The party is currently running a leadership contest to replace Singh.
The party held a debate in November that was billed as a French-language event. But much of the discussion was in English since most of the candidates are not fluently bilingual.
Delegates from Québec Solidaire voted Saturday in favour of an exception to their own rules to allow a man to run in the Montreal riding of Gouin. The party had previously set a rule that reserved ridings for women or non-binary candidates.
Gouin, which overlaps Boulerice’s riding of Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie, is currently represented by Québec Solidaire MNA Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois who is not seeking re-election.
The party currently has 11 MNAs in the provincial legislature but some surveys predict that it will lose seats this fall.
A Léger poll conducted in October estimates that six per cent of voters will choose Québec Solidaire, down from around 15 per cent in 2022.