The Parti Québécois leadership election of 2007 elected the seventh leader of the

Parti Québécois The Parti Québécois (PQ; , ) is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishi ...

, the main political party to promote Quebec independence in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, and was won by

Pauline Marois Pauline Marois (; born March 29, 1949) is a retired Canadian politician, who served as the 30th premier of Quebec from 2012 to 2014. Marois had been a Member of the National Assembly (Quebec), member of the National Assembly in various ridings ...

. Former PQ Minister Pauline Marois was the first official candidate in the race. Marois ran in both previous PQ leadership races. In a high-profile move after Boisclair's resignation

Gilles Duceppe Gilles Duceppe (; born July 22, 1947) is a Canadian retired politician, proponent of the Quebec sovereignty movement and former leader of the federal political party, Bloc Québécois. He was a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of Ca ...

, leader of the

Bloc Québécois The Bloc Québécois (, , BQ) is a centre-left politics, centre-left and list of federal political parties in Canada, federal political party in Canada devoted to Quebec nationalism, Quebecois nationalism, social democracy, and the promotion o ...

, had announced his candidacy but withdrew after witnessing sweeping overall support for Marois. Candidates had until June 26, 2007 to officially declare; no other candidate did so and Marois was acclaimed.

Unfolding

Background

The race was launched by the resignation of leader

André Boisclair André Boisclair (; born April 14, 1966) is a former Canadian politician in Quebec, Canada. He was the leader of the Parti Québécois, a social democratic and sovereigntist party in Quebec. Between January 1996 and March 2003, Boisclair serv ...

on May 8, 2007. After another emotional leader's departure, that of

Bernard Landry Bernard Landry (; March 9, 1937 – November 6, 2018) was a Canadian politician who served as the 28th premier of Quebec from 2001 to 2003. A member of the Parti Québécois (PQ), he led the party from 2001 to 2005, also serving as the leader ...

, Boisclair was elected on November 15, 2005 with a majority of 53.7% on the first voting round. At that time, the governing party in

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

was dealing with unparalleled unpopularity under

neoliberal Neoliberalism is a political and economic ideology that advocates for free-market capitalism, which became dominant in policy-making from the late 20th century onward. The term has multiple, competing definitions, and is most often used pej ...

Jean Charest John James "Jean" Charest (; born June 24, 1958) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the 29th premier of Quebec from 2003 to 2012. Prior to that, he was a member of Parliament (MP) between 1984 and 1998. After holding se ...

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

, the

Sponsorship Scandal The sponsorship scandal, AdScam or Sponsorgate, was a scandal in Canada that came as a result of a federal government " sponsorship program" in the province of Quebec involving the Liberal Party of Canada, which was in power from 1993 to 2006. ...

was badly hurting the Liberal federal government's standing and support for Quebec independence was at record highs. However, as the election date limit approached, Boisclair's popularity waned, a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

federal government claiming to be more conciliatory was elected (and made in-roads in Quebec after more than a decade of drought), the Liberal Party of Quebec gained back support by moving back towards the center and the

Action démocratique du Québec The (, ), commonly referred to as the , was a right-wing populist and conservative provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. On the sovereignty question, it defined itself as autonomist; it had support from nationalists and federalists. Its ...

rapidly gained popularity (as it had in 2002, only to lose it the year after), notably on the

reasonable accommodation A reasonable accommodation is an adjustment made in a system to accommodate or make fair the same system for an individual based on a proven need. That need can vary. Accommodations can be religious, physical, mental or emotional, academic, or em ...

controversy. Boisclair impressed most analysts and PQ followers during the election campaign but, on March 26, 2007, the PQ was nonetheless sent back to a third party status at the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

as the third party in number of seats. Opposition to Boisclair, already present before the election campaign, grew within his party. On May 4, at an interview taping of the SRC television programme ''Les coulisses du pouvoir'', Boisclair claimed to believe in an attempt from Gilles Duceppe's entourage to unseat him so Duceppe can become the PQ leader. This event created a sizable amount of criticism from within the sovereigntist movement and prompted a surprised Duceppe to deny the allegations. Boisclair finally resigned on May 8, 2007. Despite the historical blow for the PQ to its representation in the National Assembly, independence retains a stable support around 45%.

Race

The race was launched at a time when finances for the party were relatively tight. On 11 May 2007, Gilles Duceppe issued a press release announcing his candidacy and Pauline Marois announced her own to the press minutes later. Pierre Curzi, an actor and former Union des artistes president, was a third name often mentioned by the media for a possible candidacy. Just 24 hours after his candidacy announcement, Gilles Duceppe chose to withdraw from the race. His decision ensued from the sweeping popular support for Pauline Marois, as described in a

CROP A crop is a plant that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. In other words, a crop is a plant or plant product that is grown for a specific purpose such as food, Fiber, fibre, or fuel. When plants of the same spe ...

poll on La Presse's front-page the day after the announcement. In the poll, 45% of the respondents had chosen Marois and only 21% were for Duceppe. A number of key Parti québécois MNAs also chose to support the former minister, thereby reducing Duceppe's chances. In a communique Duceppe declared he wanted to "avoid a duel which could divide and therefore weaken the sovereigntist movement".

Candidates

;Official *

: Entered the race on May 11, 2007 and became an official candidate on June 18, 2007. Supports: MNA

Bernard Drainville Bernard Drainville (; born June 6, 1963) is a Canadian politician, television host and journalist. He was the Member of National Assembly of Quebec for the riding of Marie-Victorin in Longueuil from 2007 to 2016, representing the Parti Québ� ...

(May 9), MNA Marie Malavoy (May 11), MNA Danielle Doyer (May 11), MNA Denis Trottier (May 11), MP Christiane Gagnon (May 11), MP

Réal Ménard Réal Ménard (born May 13, 1962) is a Canadian politician, who was a Bloc Québécois member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1993 to 2009. He was the second Canadian member of Parliament to come out as gay. Ménard is a political scient ...

(May 11), former PQ regional association president for Quebec City Philippe-Edwin Bélanger (May 11). ;Withdrew *

: Entered the race on 11 May 2007, but withdrew 24 hours later after witnessing a wave of popular support for Pauline Marois. Duceppe threw his support to Marois and voiced a wish to remain leader of the Bloc in Ottawa. ;Speculated * Pierre Curzi *

Joseph Facal Joseph Facal (born 12 March 1961) is a Canadian politician, academic, and journalist in the province of Quebec. He was a Parti Québécois member of the National Assembly of Quebec from 1994 to 2003 and was a cabinet minister in the government ...

* Diane Lemieux ;Declined *

: Threw his support for Pauline Marois' candidacy the day after Boisclair's departure, before Marois officially entered the race. *

: Promptly confirmed after the resignation of Boisclair that he had no intention of running.

Polls

Timeline

* March 26, 2007: The Parti Québécois is third in number of seats at the

Quebec general elections This article provides a summary of results for the general elections to the Canadian province of Quebec's unicameral legislative body, the National Assembly of Quebec (and its predecessor, the Legislative Assembly of Quebec). The number of ...

. * May 3, 2007: Former PQ Minister Denis Lazure addresses an open letter to leader

in ''

Le Devoir (, ) is a French-language newspaper published in Montreal and distributed in Quebec and throughout Canada. It was founded by journalist and politician Henri Bourassa in 1910. is one of few independent large-circulation newspapers in Quebec ...

'' calling for his resignation. * May 4, 2007: At an interview taping of the SRC political programme ''Les coulisses du pouvoir'', André Boisclair claims to believe in an attempt to unseat him by

's entourage, so Duceppe can talk the helm of the PQ. Criticism from within the sovereigntist movement follows. * May 8, 2007: Leader André Boisclair resigns. * May 9, 2007:

announces his support for

* May 11, 2007:

announces that he will run in the race. Minutes later,

declares the same. * May 11, 2007: Pro-independence newspaper '' Le Québécois'' issues a press release stating that they would support neither Duceppe nor Marois, calling for a candidate without a "history of provincialist administration". * May 12, 2007: Gilles Duceppe announces his withdrawal from the race and throws his support to Pauline Marois. * June 26, 2007: Marois is acclaimed PQ leader.

References

External links

Official Parti Québécois website
on Vigile.net {{DEFAULTSORT:Parti Quebecois leadership election, 2007 2007 elections in Canada

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

2007 in Quebec Parti Québécois leadership election