Camille Labchuk

UPDATE: Watch the press conference here.

Exciting new today out of Quebec — Elizabeth May has brought former Radio-Canada personality Jacques Rivard on board as the Green Party’s new Quebec deputy leader. Rivard replaces Claude William Genest, who has served as deputy leader since 2006.

I’m thrilled the Greens have been able to attract a Quebec deputy with Rivard’s impressive profile, experience and background. You can check out his bio for complete details, but here’s a brief paragraph from today’s press release:

Besides having had a distinguished career with Radio-Canada, he also collaborated with CNN, in the United States, on environmental projects linked to the Arctic. He was a member of the Society of Environmental Journalists, was a Nieman fellow and received a grant from the Rasmussen Foundation, which allows journalists who focus on the environment to study at Harvard University. For the past ten years, Mr. Rivard has been invited to Honduras, Mexico and France as a guest speaker on environmental issues.

The Green Party is committed to building our profile in Quebec, and I’ve no doubt that having Jacques Rivard on board will be of enormous assistance.

And before I run to class… a huge thank you to Claude William Genest for the hard work he put into building the Parti vert du Canada in Quebec over the three-plus years he spent in the position.