Marie-Claude Nichols expelled from Que. Liberal caucus, will sit as independent

Que. Liberal ousted after shadow cabinet drama The National Assembly has yet to resume sitting and the Quebec Liberals have already lost one member of their caucus

Marie-Claude Nichols, Member of the National Assembly for Vaudreuil, was expelled from the Liberal caucus Thursday after refusing a position on the shadow cabinet. Instead, she will sit as an independent.

This is the second MNA to be excluded from Liberal Leader Dominique Anglade's caucus in less than a year, after the former MNA for Maurice-Richard, Marie Montpetit, was expelled last November following allegations of psychological harassment that have not yet been the subject of a formal complaint.

The Liberals are now down to 20 MNA s from the 21 elected on Oct. 3. Anglade declined to comment on the departure of her MNA and declined an interview request from The Canadian Press.

News of Nichols' exclusion came just hours after the party revealed their shadow cabinet as official Opposition.

Officially, it is the Chair of the caucus, the MNA for Marquette, Enrico Ciccone, who is responsible for the decision to exclude elected members. Nichols was criticized for having refused a cabinet position on the transport file the day before. A Liberal source told the Canadian Press that, in declining the offer, she was viewed as not being a " 'team player', and she was promptly excluded."

Nichols had asked Anglade for one of the three vice-presidential positions in the National Assembly reserved for the official Opposition. However, Anglade chose Viau MNA Frantz Benjamin, who had also expressed interest.

As a consolation prize, Anglade offered Nichols a seat as Transport critic on Wednesday, which she refused. She did not receive a follow-up offer, and news spread quickly that she would be the only Liberal MNA without a seat on the shadow cabinet.

Instead, she'll sit as an independent.

First elected in 2014, she was re-elected twice with the Liberals. Behind the scenes, Liberal sources said that the tension between Nichols and Anglade was not new. There had been reports for months suggesting Anglade wanted Nichols off the ballot last election.

The Liberal shadow cabinet was supposed to be announced on Wednesday, but high tensions between Anglade and Nichols delayed the process, Liberal sources said.

The newly independent MNA did not respond to an interview request, nor did the Liberal caucus chair.

SHADOW CABINET

Everyone else elected on the Liberal ticket is expected to fulfill their next mandate as part of the shadow cabinet -- one particularly busy critic will be LaFontaine MNA Marc Tanguay, who will be House Leader and Critic for Canadian Relations and Transport, among other jobs.

Other members to note include the MNA for Pontiac, André Fortin, who will take over the Economy, Energy and Regional Economic Development files from Pierre Fitzgibbon, and the MNA for Nelligan, Monsef Derraji, who will keep the Health file, in addition to his responsibilities as Deputy Leader.

The Education file remains in the hands of Saint-Laurent MNA Marwah Rizqy, but she will be away from Parliament for an undetermined period of time while she takes care of her newborn baby.

Notre-Dame-de-Grâce MNA Désirée McGraw will handle Environment and Climate Change, and Marguerite-Bourgeoys MNA Frédéric Beauchemin is responsible for the Finance and the Treasury Board file.

Bourassa-Sauvé MNA Madwa-Nika Cadet is charged with defending the French language, and she'll also be Employment critic. Mont-Royal-Outremont MNA Michelle Setlakwe will take the Culture and Francophonie file.

-- This article by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Oct. 27, 2022.