MONTREAL — Quebec Liberal Party Leader Pablo Rodriguez will resign amid a crisis involving allegations of vote-buying and reimbursed donations during the leadership race he won in June.
The decision was confirmed to The Canadian Press by two sources within the party who did not want to speak publicly. Rodriguez will address his caucus during a virtual meeting Wednesday.
Rodriguez, who had hoped to restore the Liberals to power in next year’s election, cast his party as the only viable alternative to the sovereigntist Parti Québécois and the only sure way for Quebec to avoid a third referendum on independence in the next four years. But the former federal cabinet minister proved unable to overcome the crisis that has consumed his party for the last month.
After Quebec’s anti-corruption police announced a criminal investigation of the party last week, prominent Liberals began openly calling for him to step aside.
Many details of the controversy remain unclear, though there are now multiple investigations focused on the leadership race that Rodriguez won with 52 per cent of the vote.
Rodriguez’s decision to resign comes following a Tuesday report in Le Journal de Montréal claiming that around 20 donors to his leadership campaign received envelopes containing $500 in cash to reimburse their donations during a fundraising event in April. The allegations appear to be a violation of Quebec’s Election Act, which states that all contributions “must be made voluntarily, without compensation and for no consideration, and may not be reimbursed in any way.”
The Liberal caucus was first thrown into turmoil in November after former parliamentary leader Marwah Rizqy fired her chief of staff without consulting Rodriguez. He later expelled her from the caucus, saying she had not explained her reasons to him and had lacked loyalty.
Rizqy has not publicly explained her decision, saying it is a human resources matter.
Shortly after Rizqy dismissed her chief of staff, Le Journal de Montréal published text messages suggesting some party members who voted for Rodriguez in the leadership race could have received cash rewards. It’s unclear whether the two stories are connected.
Rodriguez later removed a second Liberal member of the legislature from his caucus because of an investigation by Quebec’s ethics commissioner. The office of the ethics commissioner had said it would examine whether Sona Lakhoyan Olivier used resources from her constituency office for partisan purposes during the leadership race.
Montreal radio station 98.5 FM named Lakhoyan Olivier as one of the two people behind the text messages reported last month by Le Journal de Montréal, but she has denied that claim and has sent a legal letter to station owner Cogeco.
The Canadian Press has not verified any of the allegations about the leadership race.
A turning point in the controversy came last week, when Quebec’s anti-corruption police force confirmed it had opened a criminal probe into the party, but the unit did not give details of exactly what it was investigating. Though the Liberal caucus continued to back their leader publicly, well-known Liberals outside the legislature began calling on Rodriguez to put the party ahead of his personal interests and step aside.
Before his resignation, Rodriguez had said he welcomed the investigations, and had insisted he had nothing to hide. He had also asked a retired judge to investigate the claims.
The Quebec Liberals have been in the political wilderness for years, with dismal polling among francophone voters. Rodriguez, who left a long career in federal politics in September 2024 to seek the provincial leadership, pitched himself as an experienced politician and a unifier who could restore the party’s popularity.
Quebec’s next election must be held by October 2026, though it could be called earlier. The PQ has been leading in the polls for two years, as support for the governing Coalition Avenir Québec, led by Premier François Legault, has collapsed. PQ Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon has promised to hold a referendum by 2030 if elected.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 17, 2025.
— With files from Caroline Plante in Quebec City
Maura Forrest, The Canadian Press
