The leader of the PCQ, Éric Duhaime, went to Sept-Îles on Wednesday to announce the nomination of Septilien Roberto Stéa as a candidate in Duplessis in the October provincial elections.

55-year-old Roberto Stéa has worked for Hydro-Québec since 2017, according to what can be read in his curriculum vitae. Previously an employee of the Société du Plan Nord, the native of Septilien claims to have traveled a lot in the riding of Duplessis as part of the various jobs he previously held.

“You know that the riding of Duplessis is a very special riding. It is not connected by road. There are many aboriginal communities, an anglophone community. It is a constituency that is shrinking,” he said.

Roberto Stéa obtained in 1996 a master's degree in regional studies at the University of Quebec in Rimouski, where he also obtained a bachelor's degree in geography-planning. Keen on politics, he got involved in the Parti Québécois in his youth, but his independence fervor died out with the departure of Jacques Parizeau.

The one who is running for the first time as a candidate said he was not afraid to defend his ideas within the Conservative Party of Quebec. “It is a young party under construction and which accepts ideas”, argued Mr. Stéa.

Premier party en lice

No other party has yet officially announced a candidate in the riding of Duplessis, including the one whose stronghold it is, the Parti Québécois. Its MP, Lorraine Richard, has announced that she will not stand for re-election.

“The Parti Québécois in Eastern Quebec, as we know, is the last bastion. He still has some strength. It's going to be more of a four, five party fight. We have not seen that in the recent political history of Quebec. It's going to make for an interesting dynamic. I think that at the end of the day, it's the voter who wins, because there are more choices, more ideas on the table, ”believes Éric Duhaime.

The Conservative Party of Quebec must announce its candidate for the riding of René-Lévesque on Thursday in Baie-Comeau.