A new chapter has opened for Action démocratique du Québec as it begins the process to replace Mario Dumont, who has led the party through every election since its inception in 1994.
The ADQ's first leadership race officially opened this week with perhaps two of the seven members of the National Assembly elected in last December's provincial election poised to replace Mr. Dumont.
Éric Caire, a Quebec City-area MNA, announced he will seek the leadership with François Bonnardel, the party's only MNA outside of eastern Quebec, giving serious consideration to running as well.
Neither one are household names but both believe they can give the party a new lease on life after watching it fall from the 46-member strong Official Opposition it won in 2007 to a 7-member third party.
In announcing his candidacy, Mr. Caire, who gained prominence as an effective health critic, insisted on the need to explain the party's right of centre ideology. He also said the party has to explain its demands for greater autonomy for Quebec within Canada and convince the rest of the country on the need to revamp federation to meet the province's demands.
"What does it mean to be autonomous? The party has its work cut out to explain what it means," Mr. Caire said. "We are the third way. It isn't independence. I am not a separatist. I am not a federalist as in the current Canadian framework. ... We need to be able to clearly define our position."
On Monday, the party unveiled the rules that will govern the ADQ's first leadership race.
The new chief will be chosen by all eligible members through an electronic voting system with the results to be announced on in February of 2010 at a special ADQ convention. Telephones will likely be used by members to cast their votes.
Candidacies must be made public by Sept. 22. Only those having signed-up 1,000 party members with a minimum of 60 supporters from at least 12 regions in the province will be eligible to run if they post a reimbursable $15,000 deposit.
Eligible voters will need to become party members before Jan. 25, 2010. Eligible voters will be asked to identify their preferred choice for leader. After the first ballot, if no candidate has a majority of votes, the candidate with the fewest number of votes is eliminated. Then the second choices marked on the ballots will be distributed to the other candidates.
The rules will be examined by party members and given final approval at a party meeting in May.
A similar voting system was used by the Parti Québécois in 2005 to elect André Boisclair as party leader from among nine candidates in the running. The system proved to be imperfect when some succeeded in registering a dog and parrot as eligible voters. While Mr. Boisclair proved to be the best organizer, the system was heavily criticized as being nothing more than a popularity contest.
The ADQ said it hopes to avoid making the kind of mistakes that discredited the PQ's leadership selection process.
After examining the proposed rules, MNA François Bonnardel, the only ADQ member to get elected in a riding near Montreal, was carefully weighing his options before deciding to announce his candidacy.
"The fact that Mr. Caire will run or not will not influence my decision," Mr. Bonnardel said, adding that he'd make up his mind quickly.
Rhéal Séguin