Eyeing anglo coup, Quebec's new party courts former Liberal MP

Quebec's newest, most popular political party is courting a former federal Liberal MP to run for them provincially.

Coalition-Avenir-Québec has held meetings with Marlene Jennings, a former Liberal MP from Montreal who lost her seat in last year's federal election.

Adding a high-profile anglophone to the mix could be a coup for the party – which is counting on strong support from both sides of the federalist-separatist divide.

Leader Francois Legault, a former Parti Québécois cabinet minister, has met twice with Ms. Jennings in the hope of adding her to his ranks.

The party says Jennings would be an ideal candidate and an asset to the team.

"She's a woman who knows Montreal, who is close to the anglophone community, she understands the justice system very well," CAQ spokesman Jean-Francois Del Torchio said.

Ms. Jennings, a former lawyer and civil servant, served as a Liberal MP from 1997 until 2011, when she was defeated by the NDP during the party's so-called orange wave.

Thus far, the party is short on prominent federalist voices. It does have some high-ranking ex-federal Liberals working in the backrooms, but its sitting members are largely made up of disgruntled sovereigntists and ex-members of the nationalist ADQ who'd been sitting as Independents.

Led by Mr. Legault, the party says it wants to put aside the independence debate for a while.

Mr. Legault has already said he expects to announce the names of several high-profile candidates for the next election, expected between spring 2012 and late 2013.

The CAQ says anglophones are poorly served by the current political climate, in which English-speaking Quebeckers overwhelmingly and consistently vote Liberal because they oppose the PQ's independence project.

It says a new party, with a strong anglo presence, could shake things up.

"Anglophones have been taken for granted for too long by the Liberal Party," Mr. Del Torchio said.

The coalition is poised to add the remnants of the Action democratique du Quebec, depending on the outcome of a mail-in vote by the party's 2,500 members later this month.

The ADQ voting is expected to be wrapped up by Jan. 22. It currently has four sitting members in Quebec's legislature.

The CAQ has already absorbed four Independents – two ex-ADQers and two former Pequistes.