QUEBEC — Political analyst and former city councillor Elsie Lefebvre will attempt a comeback with the Parti Québécois in the Oct. 5 general election, reports say.

And there are suggestions she might choose to run in a Montreal riding. The PQ currently holds one seat on the island: Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon is the MNA for the riding of Camille-Laurin. The party holds seven seats in the National Assemnbly

The news of Lefebvre’s return to provincial politics was reported Monday by TVA, the network where Lefebvre works as a political analyst.

Neither the party nor Lefebvre would confirm the report, but TVA said the PQ will announce the return of Lefevbre in August.

The high-profile Lefebvre could help the PQ regain ground in Montreal, which are nearly all held by the Liberals.

In 2004, Lefebvre was elected the PQ MNA for the Montreal riding of Laurier-Dorion in a by-election. At 25, she became the youngest woman ever elected to the Quebec legislature.

She lost that title 10 years later when Catherine Fournier, now the mayor of Longueuil, was elected under the PQ banner at age 24.

Lefebvre lost her bid for re-election in 2007 to the Liberal candidate. She then made a foray into the municipal scene under the Vision Montreal and Coalition Montreal banner.

She represented Villeray district from 2009 to 2017. She was defeated in 2017.

Now 47, Lefebvre has been a panelist on the popular TVA political show La Joute since 2020. She also produces columns for the Journal de Montréal. She was a panelist on RDI from 2018 to 2020.

She has worked as a strategic development director for La Ruche, a Quebec crowdfunding organization supporting local economic entrepreneurs and businesses, since 2018.

pauthier@postmedia.com

The Gazette’s On Quebec Politics newsletter by Andy Riga breaks down key election issues, from polling shifts to legislative manoeuvring to ideas circulating in francophone commentary that don’t make it into English-language coverage.

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