Mark Carney’s Liberals recruit former CAQ MNA to run in upcoming Quebec byelection

OTTAWA — Mark Carney’s Liberals are hoping to flip a Quebec riding in an upcoming federal byelection with a former Coalition Avenir Québec stalwart.

Former CAQ MNA Chantal Soucy, who represented the riding of Saint-Hyacinthe at the provincial level for 12 years before announcing she would not be running under the CAQ banner in 2026, will run as the candidate for the Liberals federally in an attempt to win a Bloc Québécois stronghold.

The party made the announcement via a press release on Thursday.

Soucy is seeking to win the riding of Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot—Acton after Bloc MP Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay resigned to join the Parti Québécois. Savard-Tremblay is now the Quebec minister responsible for relations with First Nations and the Inuit.

The riding has been vacant since June, but Carney’s government chose not to call the byelection at the same time as the Chicoutimi—Le Fjord on August 31.

Given that byelections need to be called within six months of a seat becoming vacant, it is expected that the government will imminently call this byelection — and possibly the five others in Quebec, Ontario and Saskatchewan — within a few weeks at most.

Seats are also currently vacant in Brantford—Brant South (ON), Yorkton—Melville (SK), Laurier—Sainte-Marie (QC), Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie (QC) and Scarborough North (ON).

Soucy has been a longtime supporter of the CAQ. After an unsuccessful run in the 2012 election in another riding, she finally made her entrance in the Quebec legislature as Saint-Hyacinthe MNA in the 2014 election. She was re-elected in 2018 and 2022.

Soucy has never served as minister in the CAQ government, but she became second Vice-President of the National Assembly when François Legault took power in Quebec in 2018 before being promoted to first Vice-President of the institution in 2022.

She announced over the summer that she would not be seeking a fourth mandate, and denied her decision had anything to do with the bleak polling results for the CAQ.

In Thursday’s press release, Soucy explained her decision to return to politics as wanting to be part of the national conversation in the face of Trump tariffs.

“In the current economic climate, I don’t just want our region to be heard in Ottawa. I want us to have real influence where decisions are made. I am ready to put my determination to work for our region alongside Mark Carney,” she said.

Soucy is, however, expected to face some stiff competition from the Bloc.

Bloc Leader Yves-François Blanchet can count on Caroline Emond, former Delegate General of Quebec in Brussels and Director General of the International Dairy Federation, to hold onto the riding that has deep agricultural and dairy farming roots.

“If, even for a fleeting moment, you felt you had caught us by surprise — well, I’m sorry to rain on your parade,” Blanchet in an apparent warning to the governing Liberals when he announced that Emond would become his party’s candidate back in July.

“Whatever your plans, the Bloc Québécois will be as determined as it is ready.”

On Thursday, 338Canada predicted that the Bloc has a slight advantage in the riding with 41 per cent of the projected votes over the Liberals who stand at 38 per cent.

If Soucy were to win Savard-Tremblay’s seat, voters will have effectively swapped their federal and provincial representatives — now each under different party banners.

National Post
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