Parti Qubcois elects Jean-Franois Lise as new leader

Jean-Franois Lise has been elected the new leader of the Parti Qubcois.

Lise, a PQ veteran and longtime adviser to former party leaders Jacques Parizeau and Lucien Bouchard, was considered to be the main rival to Alexandre Cloutier for the job.

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"The days of the Couillardgovernment are numbered," Lise said during his acceptance speech.

"There is no shame in being ashamed of a shameful government."

He won the leadership racewith50.63 per cent of the vote from the party's members in the second round of voting.

Lisethenextended anoffer to Cloutier, who came in second with 31.7 per cent of the vote,to become Quebec minister of education if the PQ were to be elected in 2018.

Recent polls suggested that Lisegained support among the party's rank and file after he focused on identity politics, including a proposal to welcome fewer immigrants to Quebec and a vow to ban theburkain public spaces.

"I need all of you," he told the crowd. "Our coming together is just the first step."

During his campaign, Lise also promised he would not hold a referendum on sovereigntyduring his first mandate if he became premier of Quebec, but Friday evening he said the "dream is more alive than ever."

"We know we don't have toask anyone permission except ourselves," he said. "We know Quebec will bepresent on the world stage. We know the future belongs to us. Weknow that tonight, the road to victory lies ahead of us."

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A message for anglophones

Lise told the crowd that the PQ should alsoembraceQuebec's anglophone community "with open arms," before addressinganglophonesdirectly in English,his second language. He asked them to break free of the current Liberal government's "electoral trap."

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"As a leader, I will make sure that we have an open and fruitful dialogue on who we are and what we can build together," he said.

Lise becomes the ninth leader of the Parti Qubcois, replacing Pierre Karl Pladeau, who stepped down from the party and quit politics in May.

"The PQ comes out of this race reinvigorated," he said.

Pladeau immediately congratulated Lise on Twitter, saying that Quebec and Quebecers"will continue to flourish" with the PQ.

Party members had the choice between Lise, the member of the National Assembly for Rosemont, and two other sitting members, Cloutier and Martine Ouellet, as well as Montreal writer and lawyer, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.