ADQ party president resigns

A former ADQ candidate who spoke out against plans to increase the minimum wage has been named the party's interim president.

Mario Charpentier, a lawyer, was a candidate for the Action Dmocratique du Qubec in the Eastern Townships riding of Brome-Missisquoi in the Dec. 8 provincial election.

Charpentier is replacing Tom Pentefountas, who resigned Thursday after the ADQ's disappointing results in Monday's election, when the party elected just seven members.

Charpentier will act as interim president until the ADQ's party convention in spring 2009. He was formerly the party's vice-president.

During the recent provincial campaign, he opposed a Liberal proposal to increase the minimum wage to $9.50 by 2010, stating it would hamper the productivity of small businesses.

Plans are also underway to organize a leadership race for the party, after leader Mario Dumont announced earlier this week he was stepping down.

Pentefountas returns to law practice

Outgoing ADQ president Tom Pentefountas said he's leaving his position because "it's a very time-consuming function," and he has other priorities in his life.

"I think if you do it, you should give it your all," he told CBC News Friday, notinghe's decided to return to law practice.

Pentefountas, a Montreal lawyer of Greek origin, was elected ADQ president in September 2007.

He said he joined the party "out of respect and admiration for Mr. Dumont, who I've known for many years, a man whom I hold in the highest esteem."

His election was seen as a strategic move on the ADQ's part,in the party's effortsto make political inroads in the urban Montreal region.

The party'sdevastating results in Monday's Quebec election are difficult to explain, Pentefountas said.

"We put together a program, we talked about the middle class and families," he said. "We had a short-term plan, and a long-term plan, and the support wasn't there."

The low voter turnout did not help any party, despite the Liberals' win and the PQ's gain in numbers, Pentefountas added.

The ADQ went through growing pains after the 2007 election, struggling with an inexperienced caucus with the majority of members joining Quebec's legislature without any parliamentary experience.

The learning curve was steep but "I can tell you there was a big difference in the ADQ opposition at the beginning of the [2007] mandate, and at the end of the mandate," Pentefountas said.

"It's a lot easier to govern than to be in opposition, because you control the government, and you can make things happen."

The party can survive without Dumont as leader, he predicted. "There's a lot of enthusiasm."

But Pentefountas won't be involved in the expected leadership race, even though he indicated he'd "continue to be around," and plans to maintain his party membership.