OTTAWA-
Former Quebec Premier Jean Charest has said he will return to work in the private sector after losing the Conservative Party leadership race to Pierre Poilievre.
Poilievre won with a resounding victory on the first ballot, garnering almost 70% support from MPs and capturing nearly every riding in the country.
Charest was a distant second, scoring just 16% after running a campaign where he portrayed himself as having the experience to win the next election.
In a video posted today on social media, Charest says it’s time to unite behind Poilievre and pledged to stay active in the party.
His former campaign co-chair also wrote an opinion piece in the National Post saying that Charest will not run as a candidate in the next election.
Mike Coates also poured water on speculation that anyone on his team intends to form a second party now that Poilievre has won.
Discussions of such a move have emerged in light of how some centrists and progressives in the party have expressed concern about the direction Poilievre might take the party, given his support for right-wing populism that has fueled the convoy. of truckers last winter.
(The Canadian Press)