New Parti Québécois MNA for Terrebonne, Catherine Gentilcore, is sworn in

Terrebonne byelection elected member Catherine Gentilcore speaks as Parti Quebecois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon looks on during a news conference at the legislature in Quebec City, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press)

The fifth member of the Parti Québécois (PQ) MNA, Catherine Gentilcore, was sworn in on Monday at the National Assembly.

Elected in Terrebonne on Monday in a decisive victory over the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), Gentilcore is the first woman MNA who did not have to take the oath of office, since the adoption in 2023 of the law making this oath optional.

Gentilcore was president of the PQ before standing for election in Terrebonne, a riding represented by Economy Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon until his resignation in August last year.

The new MNA has inherited a large number of responsibilities, given the small size of the PQ caucus.

She becomes spokesperson for the status of women, culture and communications, the economy and innovation, higher education, housing and home ownership, homelessness, youth, social solidarity and community action, and sport, leisure and the outdoors.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on March 24, 2025.