Quebec Liberal Leader Rodriguez faces calls to resign
Former Trudeau cabinet minister and Quebec Liberal Party Leader Pablo Rodriguez is facing calls to step down, as a petition demanding that he resign from the role is rumoured to be in circulation.
Former Trudeau cabinet minister and Quebec Liberal Party Leader Pablo Rodriguez is facing calls to step down, as a petition demanding that he resign from the role is rumoured to be in circulation.
An anonymous reporter told The Journal de Montréal on Friday that members within Rodriguez’s party have been quietly garnering signatures for a petition aiming to force him to step down.
Rodriguez had previously served as former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s transport minister before leaving his cabinet in September 2024 to seek the role he holds now.
He won the Quebec Liberals’ leadership race in June, with 52.3 per cent of the vote.
However, Rodriguez now appears to be in hot water, with rumours swirling that he’s been asked to resign only a day after excluding a second MNA from his caucus.
Rodriguez expelled Chomedey MNA Sona Lakhoyan Olivier after a decision by the National Assembly’s ethics commissioner to investigate suspicious spending by her riding office.
Meanwhile, Saint-Laurent MNA Marwah Rizqy was also expelled by Rodriguez earlier this week for refusing to disclose her rationale for firing Geneviève Hinse last month.
However, Rizqy had also made accusations against Rodriguez regarding suspicious campaign fundraising during their last meeting.
Hinse had been Rizqy’s chief of staff and a close associate of Rodriguez. She has since filed a lawsuit against Rizqy for $500,000 in response to the firing.
Rodriguez did not respond to questions regarding the alleged petition on his way into a Liberal caucus meeting on Friday, only addressing the ethics commission’s inquiry.
“I was informed of an investigation by the ethics commissioner about the use of Madame Lakhoyan Olivier’s riding office,” Rodriguez told reporters. “I decided to exclude her from the caucus for the duration of the investigation and I expect all the light to be shed on this.”
Meanwhile, Party whip Marc Tanguay told reporters that he was unaware of the petition, calling it nothing more than “noise.”
“My members and those who are outside my riding of LaFontaine that I meet are members who stand behind the leader as does the caucus,” he said.
However, he went on to ultimately admit that the party has been facing inner turmoil.
“These are difficult times but we have a strong leader and a strong caucus behind the leader. You know politics is not a long, peaceful river. I have a thick skin. I was president of the party. I have seen a lot. I’m still standing, alive,” said Tanguay. “We are here. We were elected by taxpayers to defend Quebecers.”
Meanwhile, former Liberal party member Fatima Houda-Pepin has publicly called for Rodriguez to step down.
“Pablo Rodriguez has plunged the Liberal Party into the abyss,” wrote Houda-Pepin on Wednesday. “An erratic crisis management: denial, banalisation and improvisation. Nothing to raise the image of the party.”
“I appeal to his sense of honour that he resign to allow for the reconstruction of the party on the eve of a decisive election campaign,” she said.