SQ’s Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois to give an update on his political future on Thursday

Québec solidaire parliamentary leader Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, left, answers journalists' questions about comments made by Québec solidaire MNA Haroun Bouazzi, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, at the Legislative Assembly in Quebec City. Co-chair Ruba Ghazal, right, looks on. (The Canadian Press/Jacques Boissinot) (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press)

Québec solidaire (QS) co-spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois will make an “important announcement concerning his political future” on Thursday in Montreal.

Nadeau-Dubois has been absent from the National Assembly since December due to parental leave.

In a message on social network X on Monday, he wrote that he was “back in office today,” but that family reasons kept him in Montreal this week.

“I will be back at the National Assembly next week,” he added.

On Monday, the party’s candidate in the Terrebonne by-election, Nadia Poirier, finished with just 4.55 per cent of the vote. She had obtained 12.65 per cent in the 2022 general election.

QS had a difficult 2024 due to controversies. Émilise Lessard-Therrien resigned as co-spokesperson last April, just a few months after being elected.

Her departure sparked internal tensions over Nadeau-Dubois' leadership style.

Then, in November, the Solidaire MNA for Maurice-Richard, Haroun Bouazzi, set off a firestorm by saying that “every day” at the National Assembly he saw “the construction of this Other” whose culture “would be dangerous or inferior.”

He then refused to apologize and added fuel to the fire during an interview on Radio-Canada radio. His statements caused divisions among party activists and considerable unease among Solidarity MNAs.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French March 19, 2025.