Quebec Liberals one step closer to choosing a party leader

Speculation is growing as the Liberal Party of Quebec is set to lay out the ground rules and a date for the leadership race during their annual convention in Drummondville, Que., this weekend.

Some of that speculation surrounds potential candidates for the party leadership. Pierre Moreau, a candidate for the role in 2012, has been courted by several party members to run again. However, the veteran closed the door on the possibility of running for the party’s top spot.

“I am not in the race and I will not be in the race,” Moreau emphatically told reporters Saturday morning.

Moreau has returned to his law practice since last October but says he is willing to “participate in rebuilding the party.”

Former Quebec Health Minister Gaétan Barrette is not discarding the idea of running.

“Maybe someone will knock on my door and I may open it. It’s not my style to parade myself,” Barrette said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Maybe someone will knock on my door and I may open it. It's not my style to parade myself," Barrette said.

In the past, the province’s former minister of economic development, innovation and export trade, Dominique Anglade, has expressed interest in the position.

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WATCH: Dominique Anglade ‘could be interested’ in running for Quebec Liberal leadership (December 2018)

3:40 MNA Dominique Anglade’s political future as the official opposition

When asked at the convention, Anglade said she will formally announce whether she intends to run once the rules for the leadership race are known.

Those rules pertain to campaign financing as well as a date for the leadership race and will be announced on Sunday by the Quebec Liberal party’s election president, Rafael Ferraro.

Three scenarios are possible: spring of 2020, fall of 2020 or spring of 2021. Multiple people in the party seem to favour setting the date sooner rather than later.

Another potential candidate is St-Laurent MNA Marwah Rizqy. She echoes Anglade’s caution and says she will wait until ground rules are set before making any announcements.

WATCH: Marwah Rizqy talks her candidacy for Liberal’s Saint-Laurent seat

3:22 Marwah Rizqy talks her candidacy for Liberal’s Saint-Laurent seat

So far, no candidate from outside the Liberal caucus has expressed interest in the race.

Since last October, the party has been helmed by interim leader Pierre Arcand, the MNA for Mont-Royal–Outremont.

After a crushing defeat in the 2018 elections, the party became the province’s official opposition with only 29 out of 125 seats at Quebec’s national assembly.

The party has since been focused on the task of “rebuilding” the party and gaining back their base.

–With files from La Presse Canadienne, Global’s Raquel Fletcher and Global’s Rachel Lau