Olivier Bolduc to run for Québec Solidaire in Jean-Talon byelection for 3rd time

Contrary to a recommendation from the party's interim president to nominate a female candidate, Québec Solidaire members have chosen court stenographer Olivier Bolduc to run in the byelection for the Quebec City riding of Jean-Talon.

It will be his third attempt at becoming the riding's MNA after coming in second in last year's byelection. Bolduc is running to replace CAQ MNA Joëlle Boutin, who stepped down in July.

Some 60 party members attended the nomination meeting held at a pub in Quebec City on Sunday. A total of 125 people voted, according to the party.

"What I feel right now is immense joy and profound gratitude," Bolduc said to party members after winning the nomination. 

"I am honoured that you have chosen me for a third time."

Bolduc was one of two candidates vying for the spot, going up against Christine Gilbert, an accounting professor.

Calls for a female candidate 

Bolduc's nomination comes about two weeks after Nicolas Chatel-Launay, the party's interim president and secretary general, "strongly" suggested that members of the constituency select a woman to represent QS in the byelection in order to restore some parity in the party's caucus at the National Assembly. It is currently made up of eight men and four women.  

Ahead of the vote, several former QS candidates and supporters had said that they would also prefer to see a female candidate in this election. Some had even suggested that Bolduc step aside.

"It's important to have … more women, especially for a feminist party, and what's more, I also have skills that will be extremely useful to QS," Gilbert said in an interview Sunday.

In May, Manon Massé announced she would not seek another term as the party's co-spokesperson and called on young women to get involved in politics.

Gilbert, who holds a doctorate in accounting, presented herself to activists as a "unifying" candidate, a "left-wing accountant" ready to confront the "neoliberal vision" in the National Assembly.

For his part, Bolduc boasted of his experience in the field, now in his fifth campaign. He was the QS candidate in Chutes-de-la-Chaudière in 2014 and 2018, then in Jean-Talon in 2019 and 2022.

"If Christine Gilbert were elected in Jean-Talon this fall or winter, it wouldn't solve Quebec's women's issues in one fell swoop. We have to be careful not to fetishize these things," Bolduc said in an interview.

In an afternoon exchange with Gilbert, he conceded that "we need to take the necessary steps to make room for women … It's not enough to write rights in charters and laws, we need action".

At its national council meeting last February, QS members voted in favour of a proposal calling for the introduction of ways of imposing female candidates in future elections.

'Olivier is a fighter': QS co-spokesperson

Québec Soldaire co-spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois was on hand Sunday to congratulate his candidate in Jean-Talon.

He acknowledged that the outcome of the nomination race may have disappointed some supporters, but "Olivier is a fighter," he said.

"He's a guy who knows the riding like the back of his hand. I think that's the profile the people of Jean-Talon are looking for. They want a guy who's tireless, who cares about Jean-Talon, who's there for the right reasons."

Nadeau-Dubois also indicated that for him, the campaign in Jean-Talon began Sunday. He predicted that the race between his party, the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) and the Parti Québécois (PQ) would be very close.

None of the other parties have announced a candidate yet. 

Premier François Legault has under six months remaining to decide the date for the byelection — the riding's fourth since 2008. 

The election is expected to cost $585,000.