Quebec MNA Youri Chassin Exits CAQ Amid Party Shakeup

In another blow for the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), Saint-Jérôme MNA Youri Chassin is leaving the party just hours after publishing an open letter criticizing his own government.

“I intend to push the CAQ to achieve the CAQ agenda, but from the other side of the room,” he declared Thursday morning at a news conference at the National Assembly.

Chassin is leaving the CAQ caucus but will sit as an independent until the end of his term as MNA.

He said that he would not be joining any other party.

I still have my (CAQ) membership card. I’m putting it just in case; You never know. But I’m going to try something else,” he said.

In his message published in “Le Journal de Montréal” and “Le Journal de Québec” on Thursday morning, Chassin called on his own party to “get a grip”, believing that the government of François Legault had “problems”. But used the old trick of throwing money around. “Instead of doing things differently.”

Chasen pointed out that despite the rapid increase in spending, which led to an $11 billion deficit in the last budget, public services appear more fragile.

“Whether we’re talking about education, housing, emergency services, courts, day care, etc., some of the highest-taxed citizens in North America are struggling to get the services they need,” he said. Complained.

Yet, citizens are not seeing results in terms of child care spaces, or the acquisition of government documents, or the expansion and modernization project at St. Jerome Regional Hospital, which is progressing at a slow pace.”

Chasen lamented the fact that instead of cutting red tape, the CAQ government has spent on “unprecedented scale”, creating several new public institutions.

In his opinion, “This is not CAQ.”

“The CAQ must rediscover its pre-pandemic determination and morale. It must trust its promises to get us out of the mess of the past,” he maintained.

At the time of his government’s last budget, he criticized the $11 billion deficit, saying it was “booming”.

Chasen has been the MNA for St Jerome since the CAQ came to power in 2018. He is an economist by training.

He is part of the conservative wing of the CAQ. Before entering politics, Chasen was director of research at the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI), a right-wing economic think tank.

After the 2022 election, he admitted he was “disappointed” not to be appointed minister but chose to fall in line, saying he was “proud” to be part of the CAQ team.

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Quebec legislator Yuri Chaisin has announced that he is leaving the Coalition Avniir Quebec government to sit as an independent.

He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing the government of Premier François Legault for abandoning the principles of small government.

In a letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chesson accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of doing things differently. was

Chesson says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising costs that pushed the province to a record deficit of $11 billion presented in the last budget.

He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in little more than a week, after Economy and Energy Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced on September 4 that he would leave the party because he had lost motivation to do his job.

Chesson says he has no plans to join another party and will sit as an independent until the end of his term.

He has represented the St Jerome riding since the CAQ came to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.