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MONTREAL — The Quebec Liberals kicked off their leadership race on Monday, in search of a new face for the party that has been in the wilderness since 2018 but that was once a major political force in the province.

Four candidates — all men — have so far entered the race: Pablo Rodriguez, who recently resigned as the federal Liberal transport minister; Denis Coderre, ex-mayor of Montreal who was also once a cabinet minister in a federal Liberal government; Charles Milliard, the former head of the federation of Quebec chambers of commerce; and tax lawyer Marc Bélanger.

Rodriguez, 57, seen as the front-runner, picked up the support on Monday of sitting Quebec Liberal member Frédéric Beauchemin, who joined him at a news conference in Montreal and announced he was withdrawing from the race in favour of the candidate he said can unite all Quebecers.

"What is also important for Quebec to win is that we need to have experience in managing the state," Beauchemin said. "Of all the candidates in the leadership race right now, there is none who has the calibre of Pablo."

In November, Beauchemin accused Rodriguez of being part of a federal government that "spent like drunken sailors." But to reporters on Monday, Beauchemin said Rodriguez showed fiscal restraint since becoming an Independent MP in September by voting against the Liberals' GST holiday, and the party's proposal to distribute $250 cheques to most 91Ô­´´s — a policy that so far hasn't been implemented.

For his part, Rodriguez took aim at Legault and his government. "The actual (Coalition Avenir Québec) government has been pointing fingers and dividing Quebecers," Rodriguez said, alleging the premier pits people against each other on matters such as language and geography.

"A leader, a true leader is there to unite, not to divide, and a Quebecer is a Quebecer is a Quebecer," he said.

Despite his front-runner status, Rodriguez carries the baggage of spending the last nine years in the Liberal government of Justin Trudeau. In September he resigned as transport minister and from the Liberal caucus to sit as an Independent in Parliament; his team says Rodriguez will resign his federal seat as of Jan. 21 to avoid triggering a federal byelection.

Meanwhile, Milliard received a major endorsement from former Quebec Liberal finance minister Raymond Bachand. At a news conference at Liberal headquarters in Montreal, Milliard said he wants to offer a "breath of fresh air" in the race, adding that at age 45, he can bring together young and older party members to create an "intergenerational alliance."

"So during the coming 150 days we're going to talk about economy, about the renewal of the party and about the regions and their aspirations for a better Quebec," Milliard told reporters.

Bachand added that Milliard, whom he said embodies both youth and experience, has the benefit of not being a career politician — a thinly veiled reference to Rodriguez. "I think Quebecers maybe are tired of politicians who have only done politics in their life," Bachand said.

"The Quebec Liberal party, in the regions, does not exist or exists very little — it is very weak," Bachand added, lamenting how the provincial Liberals are polling in single digits with francophone voters, especially outside major cities. Rodriguez, he said, is tied to a federal political party whose fortunes aren't that much better in the province.

Quebecers in the regions are preparing to vote massively for the Bloc Québécois or the Conservatives in the upcoming federal election, Bachand said, a vote that could come as soon as the spring. "And the (Quebec) Liberal party would appoint as leader someone who has been the right-hand man of the government of Canada for 10 years?"

The Quebec Liberals suffered their worst defeat in more than 60 years in the 2018 election that swept Legault and his Coalition Avenir Québec into power. They fared even worse in 2022, and now hold just 19 of 125 seats in the provincial legislature — even though they remain official Opposition — as they look to regain ground with francophone voters outside the party's base in Montreal.

The last Liberal premier was Philippe Couillard, who governed the province between 2014-18. He beat Parti Québécois premier Pauline Marois in 2012 after the PQ's short-lived minority government. Before her, Liberal Jean Charest was premier from 2003 to 2012.

Quebecers head to the polls in 2026 for the next provincial election.

Bélanger, 54, visited the Liberal office in Montreal on Monday to formalize his candidacy.

And the normally loquacious Coderre, 61, the other political veteran in the mix so far, has remained uncharacteristically quiet. He wrote on Facebook over the weekend he would have more to say this week.

Quebec Liberals will elect their new leader on June 14. They've been without a permanent leader since Dominique Anglade stepped down in late 2022. Marc Tanguay, a Montreal-area member, has served as interim leader.

The campaign will overlap with the Liberal Party of Canada's leadership race to replace Trudeau.

This report by The 91Ô­´´ Press was first published Jan. 13, 2025.

— With files from Pierre Saint-Arnaud and Frédéric Lacroix-Couture.

Sidhartha Banerjee, The 91Ô­´´ Press