NDP MP Boulerice to run for Quebec politics, sit as independent until the fall
OTTAWA — Alexandre Boulerice, the NDP’s lone Quebec MP, announced on Monday he will be seeking the nomination for Québec solidaire (QS) in the Montreal riding of Gouin and that he will be sitting as an independent MP until the election set to happen in the fall.
That means that Mark Carney’s Liberals will have to wait several months before they can call another byelection and possibly increase their majority in the House of Commons.
In a lengthy statement on social media, Boulerice said that, after serving 15 years in the NDP, his choice to run provincially is not only a homecoming but also a “new challenge” and “a continuity in my political implication as progressive, ecologist and humanist.”
He added that he is leaving Ottawa with his mind at ease, knowing that new NDP Leader Avi Lewis will be able to “show the real conservative face” of the Carney government.
Even though Boulerice reiterated his trust in Lewis, is still a huge blow to the new NDP leader who had urged the MP to stay on board during the party convention last month.
“By the time I spoke to Alexandre in Winnipeg, it was clear that he had been in the process of making this decision for a long time,” Lewis told reporters on Monday.
The NDP leader did not say what, if anything, he tried to do to keep Boulerice from leaving.
Instead, Lewis said Boulerice’s decision is a question of principle that contrasts with recent floor-crossings and other “opportunistic moves” seen in Ottawa recently.
“After (eight) years under the CAQ, there are serious issues in Quebec, and Alexandre wants to put his considerable skills as a politician and as a fighter for progressive values to work in his province, and we respect that decision,” said Lewis.
Boulerice was first elected under the NDP banner in Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie in 2011 during the “Orange Wave” that saw Jack Layton sweep 59 out of 73 seats in Quebec.
Boulerice was the only candidate who managed to get re-elected four times after that.
Speaking to the press, Boulerice said he was already considering bidding farewell to federal politics when he was approached by QS co-spokesperson Ruba Ghazal to run in the riding of Gouin, which he knows well since it overlaps with his federal constituency.
Ghazal said the contact came naturally, as they live close by and often see each other at local events. She said she had been hoping to bring him onto the team for some time.
More details to follow…
National Post
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