Jennifer Maccarone is a familiar face at the Quebec national assembly, which might soon be her new place of work if she is elected in the provincial election on Oct. 1.
The president of the Quebec English School Board Association (QESBA) was a vocal opponent to Bill 86, the Liberals’ now-defunct school board reform legislation.
She will be the candidate for the Quebec Liberal Party in the riding of Westmount-Saint-Louis. MNA Jacques Chagnon announced in June that he would not seek re-election after first being elected in that riding in 1985.
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The Westmount-Saint-Louis riding association would not confirm Tuesday that Maccarone was their candidate:
“A vote occurred last night and a candidacy was decided unanimously. An announcement is forthcoming,” spokesperson and secretary of the board, Michael Forian said.
However, a source close to the riding association told Global News, “After three months of interviews with potential candidates to find Jacques Chagnon’s replacement … with five potential candidates interviewed by the board, it was unanimously decided that Jennifer Maccarone would be the best candidate to represent the citizens of Westmount-Saint-Louis, the English-speaking community and the values of the Liberal Party.”
This source also added that it was Premier Philippe Couillard who gave the riding association the right to choose their own candidate, a historic move for Quebec’s Liberals.
That’s because the party does not have the same custom of open candidate races like the federal Liberals. In the provincial Liberal party, the party leader chooses all the candidates. However, in this case, he decided to give the Westmount-Saint-Louis riding association the right to interview candidates and select the candidate of their own choosing.
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Like Chagnon, Maccarone is coming into provincial politics with a background managing school boards (Chagnon was the president of Quebec Federation of Catholic School boards before plunging into provincial politics).
When officially nominated, Maccarone will be the first-ever woman candidate in Westmount-Saint-Louis for the Quebec Liberals and if elected, she would be the first woman to be MNA of the riding.