MONTRÉAL - Ruba Ghazal says Québec solidaire is “tattooed on her heart.”
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solidaire → say → heart
Twenty years after helping to found the party in 2006, she is leading the left-wing party into the Oct. 5 election, as its co-spokesperson and choice for premier.
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she → help → premier
Throughout the campaign, she has presented herself as the defender of public services in a climate where many other parties want to reign in spending.
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parties → present → spending
She also promised to tackle the high cost of living with measures such as a ceiling on rent hikes and a wealth tax on those with assets worth $25 million or more.
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She → promise → assets
In a Sept. 23 debate, she promised to serve as the “bulwark against austerity.”
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she → promise → austerity
“Every time a Québec solidaire MNA has arrived at the national assembly, it’s made a difference,” she said,” citing work to combat femicides, protect elderly tenants, and support a ban on energy drinks for youth.
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she → arrive → youth
Ghazal, 48, has repeatedly cited her own immigrant background as an example of how politics should be more inclusive.
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politics → cite → example
In August, she criticized Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon’s decision to stand outside a school while making an immigration announcement, accusing him of blaming children for overcrowding and deteriorating school infrastructure.
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she → criticize → overcrowding
Born in Lebanon to a family of Palestinian refugees in 1977, she arrived in Quebec at the age of 10 and grew up between Montreal and Laval.
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she → bear → Montreal
Ghazal notes that none of her family spoke French on arrival, but they integrated and learned, thanks in part to the laws requiring children to go to school in French.
“I was that immigrant child myself, a child of Bill 101,” she said.
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she → note → Bill
Ghazal’s journey to becoming a candidate for premier spans decades.
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journey → become → decades
She has said that her parents initially hated politics, due to the association with violence and war.
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parents → say → violence
Despite this start, Ghazal became one of the founding members of Québec solidaire in 2006, alongside Françoise David and Amir Khadir,
A year later, she ran for office under the party’s banner in the Montreal riding of Laurier-Dorion, finishing fourth.
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she → become → Dorion
In 2008, she again failed to unseat the Liberal candidate but improved her showing by finishing third.
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she → fail → showing
It was in the 2018 general election that Ghazal entered the legislature, after succeeding Khadir as the Québec solidaire candidate in Mercier, also in Montreal.
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Ghazal → enter → Montreal
She was re
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She → re → ?
It also took her two attempts to become the party’s female co-spokesperson.
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It → take → attempts
In 2023, Ghazal was narrowly defeated by Émilise Lessard-Therrien in the second round of the race to succeed Manon Massé.
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Ghazal → defeat → Massé
She stepped into the job after Lessard-Therrien resigned, as the sole candidate in the running.
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Therrien → step → running
Before becoming a member of the legislature, Ghazal also worked in several factories, notably as a health, safety, and environmental consultant.
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Ghazal → become → consultant
Ghazal has also pointed out that her father was a shopkeeper, rejecting notions that her party is anti-entrepreneur.
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party → point → notions
For nearly 20 years, he ran a “dollar store” on Plaza Saint-Hubert in Montreal.
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he → run → Montreal
Ghazal, her brother, and her sisters worked there in the evenings and on weekends.
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Ghazal → work → weekends
She says she understands the realities of entrepreneurship after seeing her father make many sacrifices.
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father → say → sacrifices
Ghazal says she’s been inspired by some of the women of Québec solidaire who came before her, including Manon Massé and Françoise David.
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who → say → Massé
“In the 1990s … I would listen to Françoise David, a feminist who led the (women’s group) Fédération des femmes du Québec, and I’d think to myself: ‘My God, her words inspire me.
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words → listen → me
Then I thought, ‘If Françoise ever goes into politics, well, I’m going to follow her.’
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I → think → her
And in the end, that’s exactly what happened
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what → ’ → end
,” Ghazal recounted at a press conference last May.
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Ghazal → recount → conference
Ghazal and her party also advocate for Quebec’s independence.
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Ghazal → advocate → independence
Throughout the campaign, she’s promised to build a consensus that includes Indigenous people, immigrants and anglophones to achieve sovereignty for Quebec.
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that → promise → Quebec
“For me, it’s a fundamentally democratic project, Quebec independence,” she said during one of the leaders’ debates.
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she → ’ → debates
On Thursday, Ghazal was back in Montreal — where her party’s support is highest — pitching a plan to put a moratorium on evictions during winter months and to reform the province’s housing tribunal to better protect renters.
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support → pitch → renters
Québec solidaire entered the race trailing in the polls, and remains an extreme long-shot to form government.
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Québec → enter → government
But Ghazal has said she’s proud of the campaign she’s run, and urged voters not to vote strategically in any of the tight races.
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she → say → races
“People are fed up with strategic voting.
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People → feed → voting
What they need is for their voices to be heard,” she said.
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she → need → What
“Me, I invite Quebecers to vote with their hearts.”
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I → invite → hearts
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 4, 2026.
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report → publish → Press
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