After their disastrous showing at last fall's provincial election and two expensive leadership contests since losing power in 2014, the Parti Québécois is running out of money and ways to make more of it, according to a LaPresse analysis.
So dire is the once-mighty party's financial situation that the PQ is considering draining the coffers of its 125 riding associations into its central accounts. The party brass is also considering getting rid of their expensive (and valuable) longtime headquarters on Papineau Avenue, next door to CJAD 800's own studios.
PQ President Gabrielle Lemieux told LaPresse that no decisions on the party's headquarters have been made yet, but did remark that the PQ is "in reorganization", and added that "there will be adjustments to make."
Further complicating the PQ's financial pinch is the timing of it — the same donor base that the provincial party is relying on to help provide some breathing space in its account books are being tapped by the Bloc Québécois, with just months to go until the October federal election.
Lemieux is reportedly aiming to raise $800,000 this year, a standard benchmark in a non-election year for the party. But PQ insiders told LaPresse they are unconvinced that goal is a realistic one, especially since the party still doesn't have a permanent leader.
Even the vote-based subsidies that political parties receive in Quebec are of less help lately to the PQ than they usually are.
After the 2014 election, when the party lost power on 25% of the provincewide vote, the Péquistes received $2.4 million per year from Élections Québec. However, that figure has collapsed to just $1.6 million after the party fell to third-place in the National Assembly with 17% of the vote. As well, with the party failing to win more than 15% of the vote in an astonishing 64 ridings last October, the PQ cannot be reimbursed for their expenses in any of those races.