Published August 24, 2026 · Équipe Le Québec Vote
**The former MNA for Rosemont, expelled from the Québec solidaire caucus in November 2025 after negotiating in secret with the Parti québécois, made his PQ candidacy official on August 24 in the riding of Taschereau, in Quebec City. There he will face his former caucus colleague Étienne Grandmont directly, in a move that drew significant media coverage as soon as it was announced.**
**A break that had been brewing for months**
The announcement, made on August 24 by PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, ends several months of uncertainty about Vincent Marissal's political future. A former columnist and journalist who became a Québec solidaire MNA in Rosemont in 2018 — where he defeated the PQ leader of the time, Jean-François Lisée — and was re-elected in 2022, Mr. Marissal had seen his relationship with his party deteriorate over the past year.
The breaking point came in November 2025, when the Québec solidaire caucus voted unanimously to suspend him, after learning that he was holding discussions with Paul St-Pierre Plamondon about a possible PQ candidacy. QS co-spokesperson Ruba Ghazal then defended the party's decision, saying that "citizens must be able to count on elected officials who respect the mandate they were given" by voters. For his part, Mr. Marissal claimed a voluntary departure and delivered a scathing critique of his former party, calling it a party "paralyzed by its base" and "completely bogged down."
He then sat as an independent MNA, leaving open the possibility of retiring from politics, before the Parti québécois convinced him to relaunch his campaign.
**A highly symbolic choice of riding**
The most striking part of this announcement is not so much the change of party as the choice of riding. Rather than trying to reclaim his former Montreal seat of Rosemont, Mr. Marissal is running in Taschereau, in the Capitale-Nationale region — a seat held by Québec solidaire and currently represented by incumbent MNA Étienne Grandmont, with whom he sat for a long time in the same caucus.
This choice turns his candidacy into a direct confrontation with his former party, on ground where he has no personal electoral roots. He also succeeds the PQ candidate initially expected in the riding, Jeanne Robin, who had withdrawn for personal reasons.
The race looks set to be a multi-way one: besides Mr. Marissal and Mr. Grandmont, lawyer Farnell Morisset will carry the colours of the Parti libéral du Québec and Eliot Estévez-Verville those of the Parti conservateur du Québec. As of this writing, the Coalition avenir Québec had not yet confirmed its own candidate in Taschereau.
**The PQ emphasizes parliamentary experience**
In his statement announcing the candidacy, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon stressed his new recruit's political background rather than the break with QS. "Vincent is a rigorous guy, a formidable parliamentarian and a member who invests himself in every one of his files," he said, pointing to their past collaboration on health files, including that of Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital.
The PQ leader also argued that "the quality of his work has been recognized by everyone" and that "the depth of his experience will bring a great deal" to a possible PQ government — a way of presenting this recruitment as a reinforcement for governance, beyond the electoral symbolism.
For his part, Mr. Marissal justified his choice by saying that "change exists within the Parti québécois" and by calling for the sovereignty movement to rally behind that party, going so far as to declare that "Canada does not serve us."
**A signal in a still-tight race**
This candidacy comes at a strategic moment of the campaign: several polls published in recent weeks, notably by the firm Léger and by Synopsis for La Presse, show the Parti québécois still leading in voting intentions, even though its lead appears to be slipping slightly as the vote scheduled for October 5 approaches. In this context, a transfer of a well-known figure between rival parties takes on particular significance, both for the media coverage it generates and for the message it sends to undecided voters on the left and in the sovereignty movement.
For Québec solidaire, the loss of Mr. Marissal — already painful internally in 2025 — is now compounded by a concrete electoral stake in a riding it holds. For the Parti québécois, it is a gamble: to convince the voters of Taschereau that a candidate with no local ties, but with a national profile and parliamentary experience, can faithfully represent their interests in the National Assembly.
**What remains to be watched**
The rest of the campaign will tell whether this gamble pays off. The episode already illustrates the fight between the PQ and QS for the sovereignist and progressive space in this general election, as well as the CAQ candidate still to be confirmed in Taschereau.