The withdrawal of Marie-Louise Tardif from the CAQ caucus stirs up speculation
Marie-Louise Tardif's Facebook page The MP is under investigation by the SQ because she would have intimidated an ex-employee in the middle of the courtroom.
“To avoid being a distraction”, the elected Marie-Louise Tardif will temporarily withdraw from the caucus of the deputies of the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ), pending the conclusion of the police investigation targeting her. The Conservatives have their eye on the MP, but will await the conclusions of the Sûreté du Québec.
The Office of the Chief Government Whip made the announcement in a short press release sent to the media on Tuesday. “I have chosen to withdraw […] the time to shed light on the events,” said the member for Laviolette–Saint-Maurice in a written statement.
Ms. Tardif's departure bears the number of deputies of the CAQ at 89.
If the CAQ seems to want to break away, I am present, and the Conservative Party of Quebec will be present to recover my sister following the results of the survey
— Michel Tardif
The MP, who is serving her second term as elected to the National Assembly, is the subject of an investigation by the SQ because she allegedly intimidated a former employed in the middle of the courtroom.
The alleged story dates back to the end of February. According to Le Nouvelliste, Ms. Tardif allegedly whispered to an ex-employee that she was going to “get on [her] case”, after the latter testified in a case opposing the MP to her former constituency office manager, Marc Léopold Fortin. These events, which allegedly took place in the middle of the courtroom of the Small Claims Division of the Court of Quebec, were the subject of a complaint to the SQ last week.
If she leaves the CAQ until the police report the conclusions of their investigation, Ms. Tardif remains a deputy. “I want to reassure the citizens of my constituency that my team and I remain at work to move the files forward,” said the Mauritian elected official on Tuesday.
Duhaime “marauding”
Does the leader of the Conservative Party of Quebec (PCQ), Éric Duhaime, have her in his sights as a potential representative in the National Assembly? “Those who think that tomorrow morning I'm going to give a press in Shawinigan to announce that we have a new MP, it will not happen, “he argued in his weekly live broadcast on social networks, while recalling that she was still the subject of an investigation.
Mr. Duhaime admitted to being “marauding” and talking to some CAQ MPs to convince them to change their allegiance. He succeeded in doing so during the last term with the member for Iberville, Claire Samson, but she left politics last fall.
Marie-Louise Tardif is known for having publicly admitted in the middle of an election campaign that a political party is by definition “quite restrictive and controlling”. “I don't have the latitude I would have if I was an independent,” she told local radio in September.
Her brother Michel Tardif, who ran for the PCQ in the October elections, said Tuesday in a conversation with Le Devoir that “the file is to restore its reputation and see the result of the investigation”.
“If the CAQ seems to want to break away, I am present, and the Conservative Party of Quebec will be present to recover my sister following the results of the investigation,” he said.
M. Tardif is still involved with the local conservative association in Bellechasse, where he had tried his luck during the fall ballot. He has already discussed Mrs. Tardif with Éric Duhaime, especially to tell him that it was better to wait for the SQ investigation to be concluded.
But “just like her, we are listening of the population, “said Mr. Tardif when asked to raise the chemistry between the party and his sister.
