PQ's youngest MNA quits caucus, says party is beyond rehabilitation

The youngest sitting member of theParti Qubcoishas quit caucus to sit as an independent, sovereigntistMNA.

Catherine Fournier says she wants to build a non-partisan consensus between Quebecers who want to achieve independence, and that the movement is too fractured to achieve its goal under any of the existing parties.

The PQ is past the point where it can be saved by new leadership, she said.

"Even if the Parti Qubcois eventually reforms itself, I believe that it's too late,"she said at a news conference in her home riding of Marie-Victorin, which covers part of Montreal's South Shore.

She said her former party lacks the credibility and confidence of the public to be the vessel of the sovereignty movement on its own, and that it has been in declinesince the 1995 referendum loss.

At 26 years old,Fournier is the youngest MNAin the National Assembly.

No plan to form new party

Fournier leaving the caucus also means the PQ falls to fourth place in number of seats in the National Assembly.

Qubec Solidaire, which also has the goal of an independent Quebec as part of its platform, has 10 seats in the provincial legislature.

She will return to the National Assembly asindependent, and says she has no plans to start her own party.

"The last thing that the sovereigntist movement needs today is a new sovereigntist political party," she said.

Instead, she said work must be done to create a sovereigntist networkacross partisan lines and includeyoung people in the conversation.

Fournier said the PQ has known she was reflecting on her future since her re-election in October, and that her decision should come as no surprise to the party.

The party received just over 17 per cent of the popular vote in that election, one of its worst-ever showings. Eventhen-leader, Jean-Franois Lise, losthis seat to QS.

Interim PQ leader Pascal Brubhad a different take from Fournier's, saying the caucus was "shocked" by the news of her departure.

"We learned at the same time as you," he told journalists on Monday afternoon.

Brub said the party is in an "unprecedented" moment of reflection, where everything is on the table as long as sovereignty remains at the heart of its platform.

He also questioned whetherFourniercould be a legitimate representative of her voters, given that she is leaving the PQ justfive months after running under its banner.

Fournier responded on Twitter, saying Brub's reaction is emblematic of the party's problems.

In a statement, Qubec Solidaire wished Fournier luck in her endeavour, but added that it believes QS is the right party to make Quebec a country.

It pointed to its merging with thehardlineparty Option Nationale ahead of last fall's election as proof it can be the home for the province's sovereigntists.