Quebec Liberal Party gains former CAQ and PCQ figures as recruitment accelerates
Ange Claude Bigilimana and Victor Pelletier joined the Quebec Liberal Party at a PLQ general council in Sherbrooke, a move that signals growing recruitment momentum ahead of the fall election.
Two former opponents publicly join Quebec Liberal Party ranks
Ange Claude Bigilimana, who ran for the Parti conservateur du Québec in the 2025 Terrebonne by-election, and Victor Pelletier, a former youth commissioner and CAQ candidate in the 2023 Saint-Henri–Sainte-Anne by-election, were both seen at the Quebec Liberal Party’s general council in Sherbrooke on Saturday.
Both men completed party membership formalities and spoke briefly with reporters about their decisions to switch allegiance to the Quebec Liberal Party.
Bigilimana has a recent electoral record that includes a fifth-place finish in Terrebonne in March 2025 with 3.74% of the vote and a fifth-place result in Mille-Îles in 2022 with 10.56%.
Pelletier, 24, previously stood as a CAQ candidate in Saint-Henri–Sainte-Anne and finished fourth with 9.36% of the ballot in that contest.
Bigilimana cites policy and leadership concerns for departure from PCQ
Bigilimana said his shift to the Quebec Liberal Party was driven by policy differences with his former party’s leader.
He criticized an emphasis, as he sees it, on private-sector solutions for health, education and public infrastructure under his old party’s direction.
He also accused his former leader of frequently changing positions on issues, citing the handling of a proposed bill limiting sales of energy drinks to minors as an example.
Summing up his misgivings, Bigilimana said he does not feel represented by a political culture that he described as attacking broadly rather than adhering to a consistent guiding line.
Former CAQ youth leader points to fiscal and strategic disagreements
Victor Pelletier, who led the CAQ’s youth commission before standing for office, said his decision to join the Quebec Liberal Party was motivated by frustration with his former party’s economic choices.
He pointed to major projects and subsidy decisions, including public support for an electric battery plant and high-profile entertainment subsidies, as evidence of what he called a weakening of fiscal rigor.
Pelletier praised the PLQ leader’s accessibility and charisma as factors that attracted him to the party, while adding that he has no immediate plans to seek elected office.
He said he is currently employed in public relations and intends to observe party developments from within rather than jump straight back into campaigning.
PLQ confirms new candidacies and continued recruitment push
The Quebec Liberal Party also used the Sherbrooke gathering to confirm other candidate news, naming former journalist Hugo Fontaine as its pick for Richmond in Estrie this autumn.
Fontaine, now a communications director, has a background in regional and national newsrooms and is viewed by the PLQ as a profile that could bolster its chances in a riding contested by the CAQ and Québec solidaire.
The party has enacted a visible recruitment drive during the current nomination season, announcing a mix of veteran and new figures in recent days.
Those moves come as the PLQ seeks to regain ground in suburban and regional ridings that will be central to the campaign expected this fall.
Staff departures and internal change at rival parties
Bigilimana’s switch follows other recent exits from his former party’s ranks, including a senior communications staffer who has indicated he will pursue new professional opportunities starting mid-June.
Those departures, combined with defections of candidates and former activists to other parties, point to shifting personnel dynamics across the Quebec political landscape.
Representatives of the parties Mr. Bigilimana and Mr. Pelletier left issued terse responses, thanking the individuals for past contributions and wishing them well.
Those replies underscored a restrained public posture from party headquarters even as grassroots tensions and internal debates continue behind the scenes.
Charles Milliard, the PLQ leader, was singled out by both newcomers as a central reason for their alignment with the party.
They described his leadership style as balanced and mature, and said that quality contrasted with what they perceived as volatility elsewhere on the political spectrum.
Hugo Fontaine’s candidacy and other recent announcements, including media personalities entering nomination contests, underscore the PLQ’s strategy of combining professional profiles with local roots.
The party appears to be positioning candidates who can appeal to both suburban voters and regional communities ahead of the expected campaign.
The arrivals of Bigilimana and Pelletier are likely to draw attention in ridings where margins have been narrow and where voter sentiment could be influenced by perceived competence on health, education and fiscal management.
As the fall election approaches, the Quebec Liberal Party will test whether these individual conversions translate into broader electoral momentum across the province.
Both Bigilimana and Pelletier said they will remain engaged at the party level while evaluating any future runs for office, leaving open the possibility that some of the new members could re-enter electoral politics under the Quebec Liberal Party banner.
