A series of controversies erupted within the Quebec Liberal Party (QLP) last week that have led some to question its leader’s judgement and resulted in Pontiac MNA André Fortin being promoted from party whip to parliamentary leader.
On Monday, the QLP’s parliamentary leader Marwah Rizqy fired her chief of staff Geneviève Hinse without contacting party leader Pablo Rodriguez. Rodriguez, a former federal minister who was elected party leader in March of this year, does not hold a seat in the National Assembly. He confronted Rizqy about the issue, both with their lawyers present, and suspended her from the party when she refused to elaborate about why, calling it a “breach of trust” in a statement issued Nov. 18. Rodriguez subsequently promoted Fortin from chief whip to parliamentary leader, which is effectively making him leader of the opposition, with former interim leader Marc Tanguay taking the whip role. Former MNA Patrick Huot will serve as Fortin’s chief of staff.
Hinse, who was Rodriguez’s chief of staff in federal politics, said she was fired without cause and without any indication from Rizqy about what she did to be dismissed. She filed a $500,000 lawsuit on Friday, the Journal de Montréal reports.
Rizqy, who was named parliamentary leader by Rodriguez in June of this year, has said she can’t discuss a human resources issue. She initially only stated that it was “serious misconduct” and that she has the authority as the parliamentary leader to terminate her employee. On Sunday she issued a longer statement, stating she had the support of the National Assembly’s human resources department.
“I would also like to point out that if [Rodriguez] and the new Leader of the Official Opposition, Mr. André Fortin, deem the decision I made—while respecting the rules that govern us—to be the wrong one, they are perfectly free to rehire the former chief of staff,” she wrote in French.
Rizqy was a professor of tax law at the University of Sherbrooke before being recruited by Rodriguez to run federally in the 2015 election, where she narrowly lost to the NDP candidate by less than one per cent of votes cast. She was defeated for the federal Liberal nomination in the Montreal riding of former Opposition leader Stéphane Dion, who left for the diplomatic service in 2017.
She was first elected to the National Assembly in 2018 and again in 2022 by landslides in the QLP’s stronghold region of Montreal.
Rizqy, who supported Rodriguez in the leadership race and was widely seen as a star candidate in the party, had announced last year that she would not be seeking re-election in 2026 for “at least 15 years” according to CBC News, noting she wanted to spend more time raising her young sons. Her husband Greg Kelley is also a QLP MNA.
Rodriguez denies knowledge of ‘brownies’
Further turmoil erupted on Wednesday (Nov. 19) when the Journal de Montréal’s investigations team published a story featuring text exchanges that allegedly show Rodriguez supporters received “brownies” (slang for $100 bills) for voting for him in the leadership race. Rodriguez narrowly beat former Quebec Chamber of Commerce president Charles Milliard, whose candidacy Fortin supported, 52.3 per cent to 47.7 per cent in a runoff.
Rodriguez said he had no knowledge of the scheme if it existed, and has announced an independent investigation into the allegations will be made by former judge Jacques R. Fournier.
Rodriguez questioned the authenticity of the texts, demanding the Journal de Montréal reveal how they were authenticated as well as the identities of those who sent the texts.
The Journal’s publisher Dany Doucet stood by his team’s story and said he was “astonished” by Rodriguez’s statements.
“The protection of sources, essential to journalistic independence, is a fundamental principle of our profession, broadly protected by the rule of law, and we intend to defend it vigorously, in the public interest,” Doucet wrote in a French-language statement.
Two MNAs identified by media as the authors of the texts, Liberal Sona Lkhoyan Olivier and CAQist Alice Abou-Khalil, denied doing so, and both said they would support the investigation into the issue.
The QLP held several caucus meetings over the course of the week in response to the crises.
Fortin and Rodriguez were originally scheduled for a tour of the Outaouais region on Nov. 18 and 19, which was cancelled in light of the news. THE EQUITY requested comment from Fortin’s office several times, but did not receive a response in time for publication.
Fortin calls Legault ‘first penis of Quebec’
The week prior to these controversies unfolding, Fortin made headlines of his own, as he was featured on Radio-Canada’s popular satirical news program Infoman on Nov. 13 for a slip-up in the National Assembly. Addressing the crisis in Quebec’s forestry industry, Fortin mistakenly referred to Francois Legault as the “first penis” of Quebec.
“Le gouvernement du Québec, le premier pénis du Québec,” he said, in place of premier ministre, or premier.
