Liberals hope to retake Sherbrooke riding; courting chamber of commerce president

QUEBEC — After a rough last week, the Quebec Liberals are trying to re-take the high road by announcing a big-name election candidate in the riding of Sherbrooke.

And there are reports the party is in discussions with the high-profile president of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal, Michel Leblanc, to become a candidate.

As the date of the fall election nears, Liberal leader Charles Milliard Monday announced the former rector of the Université de Sherbrooke, Pierre Cossette, will be the candidate for the party in the riding of Sherbrooke in the Oct. 5 general election.

High in symbolic value to the party because it was once held by former Premier Jean Charest, Sherbrooke fell to Québec solidaire in the 2018 general election.

But the QS winner, Christine Labrie, has announced she will not be running in the October election. Charest was MNA for the riding from 1998 to 2012.

Labrie’s departure creates an opening for the Liberals, who see the Eastern Townships as a key part of their rebuild in the regions where they were almost shut out in the 2022 election.

A doctor and professor in the Université de Sherbrooke health faculty, Cossette was rector of the university from 2017 to 2025. He also was director of the Bureau de coopération interuniversitaire (BCI), the association of Quebec university rectors.

Cossette has also been an outspoken critic of the Coalition Avenir Québec government’s policy of limiting the number of international students in Quebec universities and increasing tuition for students coming from other provinces.

“Having been a resident of the region for 30 years, I know the people who live here and the issues that concern them,” Cossette said in a statement Monday.

“I also see Sherbrooke’s potential and hope the population gives me its confidence.”

“He is someone who has an expertise, credibility, experience and professional maturity,” added Milliard. “He represents what I want to bring into Quebec politics.”

The addition of the high-profile candidate and other names comes after a week marked by troubles for the Liberals, who have experienced some recent gains in the polls.

On Tuesday, Milliard found himself embroiled in a war of words with his opponents after slipping up and referring to two official languages in Quebec.

By the end of the week he was managing the fallout from a blistering ethics commissioner’s report into the management of public funds by former Liberal MNA Sona Lakhoyan Olivier.

On Friday, Milliard announced he had asked the Liberal party executive to strip Lakhoyan Olivier of her Liberal party membership card.

By the weekend the Liberals were back on the offensive with leaks of a series of high-profile potential candidates starting to appear.

On the weekend, La Presse reported that Michel Leblanc was in active discussions with the party to run as the candidate in either Marguerite-Bourgeoys riding or the riding of Saint-Laurent.

Leblanc did not return messages from The Gazette Monday.

Marguerite-Bourgeoys riding is opening up because the Liberal MNA there, Frédéric Beauchemin, who was briefly a leadership candidate, is trying to make the jump to represent the Eastern Townships riding of Brome-Missisquoi.

Brome-Missisquoi sits next to the riding Milliard himself plans to run in, Orford. The riding of Saint-Laurent is also up for grabs with the decision of former Liberal MNA Marwah Rizqy to not seek re-election.

Three other names of well-known figures have leaked to various media outlets. David Bowles, the director general of Collège Charles-Lemoyne on the South Shore, is the Liberals’ choice for the riding of Laporte.

Laporte is currently held by MNA Isabelle Poulet, who got kicked out of the CAQ caucus last fall for flirting with the Liberals.

“I am reflecting and in discussions for a decision in the coming weeks,” Bowles told Le Devoir.

La Presse said Milliard is moving ahead on announcing a plan and team to shore up the party’s position on the French language. A member of that team will be Olivier Bertin-Mahieux, who has been director of the Fondation Paul Gérin-Lajoie since 2021.

One candidate that is nearly confirmed is Julie White, who announced Friday she is stepping down as president of the Manufacturiers et Exportateurs du Québec.

There are reports White will try a second time to get elected for the Liberals in the Quebec City riding of Jean-Talon, which the Parti Québécois won in a byelection in October 2023.

And Jean Charest’s son, Antoine Dionne-Charest, is expected to run for the Liberals in the riding of Verdun.

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