Quebec Conservatives recruit ex-CAQ Claire Samson as party’s first legislature member

QUEBEC – Former Coalition Avenir Québec member Claire Samson, dumped by the governing party’s caucus earlier this week, has switched sides to the Conservative Party of Quebec.

Samson made the move official today at a news conference alongside Conservative Leader Eric Duhaime, giving the party its first-ever seat in the national assembly.

Samson, 66, was ejected from the Coalition caucus on Tuesday after the party learned she had donated $100 to the provincial Conservatives.

The Coalition party ruled it could not accept one of its members donating to a party that contests COVID-19 health measures, as Duhaime, a commentator and radio host in Quebec City, has done on numerous occasions.

Samson was first elected in 2014 and re-elected in 2018 in the riding of Iberville, south of Montreal. She says she decided to switch parties after several meetings with Duhaime.

The move fulfils Duhaime’s goal of seeing his party enter the legislature as soon as possible, and with the potential for daily access to the legislature press corps, it will give him an unexpected platform ahead of the election scheduled for October 2022.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 18, 2021.