ADQ Searching for New Leader, Pronto

ADQ speeds up quest for new leader

As the May calendar flips into June, the Action Democratique du Quebec has decided to accelerate its leadership contest.

The party will vote for its new leader on October 18, 2009. The vote had previously been scheduled for February 2010.

This happens as a fourth candidate, Chauveau MNA Gerald Deltell, seems prepared to take to the field. Deltell has been the subject of a "draft Gerald" movement which could make him an instant contender for the leadership of the hobbled party.

“Many people have asked me to be a leadership candidate,” Deltell recently admitted. “I don’t like politics. “I love it.”

Deltell would join Gilles Taillon, Christian Levesque and Eric Caire in the race to become the next ADQ leader, and only the second leader the 15-year-old party will ever know.

Deltell was previously a journalist, and had covered Quebec's National Assembly for TQS.

Janvier Grondin, the man behind Mario Dumont's accelerated departure from the ADQ leadership, has welcomed the prospect of Deltell joining the leadership race with enthusiasm. “I really like his style,” Grondin noted.

Ironically, Deltell's current riding was formerly the home of Gilles Taillon, who in December 2008 ran and lost in the riding of Chapleau, which may give Deltell a serious head-up over Taillon -- Mario Dumont's former deputy leader -- in the contest.

This, of course, is all assuming that Deltell decides to run.

No Time to Waste

ADQ needs new leader as soon as possible

When a political party suffers a change in fortunes as drastic as the one the Action Democratique du Quebec suffered over the past year, the most important thing is to start working on repairing the damage and cleaning up the mess.

In order to do this, it's important to have strong leadership.

It's on this note that the ADQ has been in something of a quandry since losing 32 seats in the National Assembly. ADQ leader Mario Dumont immediately announced his resignation following his party's ignomious defeat.

However, Dumont didn't note precisely when he'd vacate the leadership of the ADQ.

Thus the dilemma the ADQ faces. It needs strong leadership in order to mount any kind of comeback in a future election, and needs to begin their rebuilding efforts immediately. But with Dumont prolonging his departure that work cannot effectively begin.

Janvier Grondin, the MNA for Beauce-Nord, gave a radio interview in which he stressed the need for Dumont to depart the ADQ leadership as quickly as possible.

"Everything that drags along gets dirty," Grondin announced. "This shouldn't drag on. A political party without a leader isn't good for anybody."

Unfortunately, the ADQ's rules forbid even setting the rules for a leadership contest until Dumont leaves office, let alone selecting his successor.

Mario Dumont has served the ADQ well. But if he truly doesn't intend to stay on as leader he needs to leave the leadership as quickly as he can. Making his party wait for the opportunity to replace him serves no one well.

Unless Dumont has changed his mind and decided to stay, he needs to go and do so as soon as possible.