Environment Minister Bernard Drainville announces bid for CAQ leadership

Quebec Environment Minister Bernard Drainville is joining the race to become the province’s next premier.

He made the announcement in a video posted to social media on Saturday.

“To regain Quebecers’ trust, we have to stay faithful to the CAQ’s DNA — a right-of-centre nationalism that is rooted in our regions,” Drainville said.

Drainville is the second cabinet minister reported to enter the race for the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ)’s leadership, with Energy and Economy Minister Christine Fréchette expected to launch her campaign in her hometown of Trois-Rivières on Sunday.

The party’s next leader would become the province’s premier until the next Quebec election, slated for the fall, with Premier François Legault having announced his resignation earlier this month.

Both Drainville and Fréchette have received public support from several members of the CAQ caucus.

Two of its youngest members, Samuel Poulin, the minister responsible for youth and Karianne Bourassa, MNA for Charlevoix–Côte-de-Beaupré, both announced their support for Drainville on Wednesday.

Other CAQ MNAs, Isabelle Lecours and Yannick Gagnon, added their voices to theirs on Saturday.

Launching his campaign, Drainville made an appeal to the working class and to those in the province’s regions.

“Over the last few years, you have seen me emotional, you have seen me sing, but you have above all seen me determined,” he said. “The CAQ needs to be the party of real people: ordinary people who work hard, pay their taxes, raise their families.”

He also promised to fight for small businesses and a “strong francophone nation.”

According to leadership race rules, both Fréchette and Drainville will have to step down from their cabinet positions, and forego their minister salaries, to avoid a conflict of interest.

This wouldn’t be the first time Drainville attempts to take over as a party’s leader.

After Pauline Marois’s resignation as head of the Parti-Québécois, Drainville had entered the race to succeed her, but ultimately withdrew to support Pierre Karl Péladeau, who won the party’s leadership in 2015.

The 62-year-old was first elected to the National Assembly as a PQ MNA for the Marie-Victorin riding in 2007, defending the controversial charter of values when he was minister responsible for democratic institutions in Marois’s cabinet.

He took a break from politics in 2016, choosing instead to become a radio host on 98.5 FM. He had previously worked as a journalist and correspondent for Radio-Canada.

In 2022, he became one of the CAQ’s star candidates, winning the Lévis seat and becoming education minister until he was handed the environment portfolio in a cabinet shuffle last September.

The CAQ’s leadership race officially kicked off on Thursday, and will end with a vote at a leadership convention on April 12.

To qualify for the race, a candidate has to obtain the support of 1,000 party members across at least 75 ridings, including 15 MNAs and 100 members of the CAQ’s youth wing.

Candidates are also required to pay a non-refundable deposit of $30,000 and stick to a spending cap of $150,000 for their campaign.

Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette announced on Friday that he would not be joining the race, in part because of family reasons.

Granby MNA and former public security minister François Bonnardel also decided not to run.