Pierre Karl Pladeau's struggle to connect with voters seen in Saint-Jrme

Pierre-Karl Pladeau's departure from politics not only leaves a vacuum at the top of the Parti Qubcois, but the people in his former riding of Saint-Jrme now find themselves without an MNA.

However, reaction among residents in the community northwest of Montreal is mixed in the wake ofhis surprise decision to quit politics.

Saint-JrmeMayor Stphane Maher said that whilehe personallyappreciated Pladeau'sefforts to boostthe local economy, the former PQ leaderstruggled to connect with voters in the area.

"I think there's gap between the perception of what people have of him and who he is," Mahersaid.

"It's so strange because at the time Mr. Pladeau was in the field every single week."

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Maher said Pladeau struggled to shed his reputation as a union-busting businessman.

It didn't help that Quebecor, the media giant ofwhich Pladeauis a majority shareholder, locked out workers at a printing plant in neighbouring Mirabel.

Many of them lived inSaint-Jrme, Maher said.

Many residents seem to agree with Maher's assessment.

At thelocal TimHorton's,some customerssaid they feltPladeauwasabusinessman not a politicianwho was in aconflict of interest as the owner ofQuebecor.

Others saidit was time for an influx of youthafter the former MNA'sshort-lived stint at the helm of the PQ.

LindaPerronhad a more positive take.

"He did things that many of our previous MNAs did not do," Perron said.

"He helped businesses in the Bellefeuille section ofSaint-Jrme, where I live."

Battleground riding

The riding, previously known asPrvost,has flip-flopped between the PQ andCoalitionAvenirQubecsince 2008.

Prior toPladeau, the riding was held by anotherbig-name candidate: former Montreal police chief andanti-corruptioncrusader JacquesDuchesneauof theCoalitionAvenirQubec.

Pladeauswooped into the riding as a star candidate in the 2014 election.

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He ended up beatingtheCAQ'sPatriceCharbonneauby 1,000 votes.

At his first news conference inthe community, he famously pumped his fist into the air with a vow to make Quebec a country.

"Quebec has all the means to succeed. We have financial resources, we have human resources, we have natural resources," Pladeau said to cheers from the party faithful in March 2014.

"We've got everything (we need) for a country to be alive and kicking."

That challenge is now left to the PQ'snext leader.

A date for a byelectioninSaint-Jrme hasn't been set.