Pablo Rodríguez

Pablo Rodriguez (born June 21, 1967) is an Argentine-Canadian politician who served as the leader of the Quebec Liberal Party from June to December 2025. He previously served as the member of Parliament (MP) for Honoré-Mercier from 2015 to 2025, and before from 2004 to 2011, serving in various cabinet roles.

A member of the Liberal Party of Canada, Rodriguez previously served in the 29th Canadian Ministry as minister of Transport, Additionally, he was his party's Quebec lieutenant from 2019 until 2024.

Rodriguez resigned from the Cabinet and the federal Liberal caucus on September 19, 2024, to run for the leadership of the Quebec Liberal Party. He continued to sit as an MP until January 20, 2025, when the Quebec Liberal leadership campaign period began. He won the second round with 52.3% of the popular vote over Charles Milliard.

On December 18, 2025, Rodriguez resigned as leader in the middle of a political crisis in which it was alleged party members were financially rewarded for voting for him in the leadership race.

Early life and career Rodriguez was born on June 21, 1967, in San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina. When he was eight, Rodriguez's family fled to Canada after their home was bombed during the Dirty War, and his father, who was running for governor in Argentina's Tucuman province, was repeatedly jailed and tortured for his activism. They initially stayed in Montreal, but moved to Sherbrooke, after his father obtained a teaching position at the University of Sherbrooke, where Rodriguez learned customs and cultural traditions of Quebec by learning French by playing hockey with friends and listening to songs of Paul Piché.

Rodriguez was initially drawn to politics after his father took him to hear René Lévesque's victory speech in 1976. During the 1995 referendum campaign on Quebec independence, he was a youth spokesperson for the No camp. He was the Vice President of Oxfam Québec from 2000 to 2004 after it was merged with Club 2/3. Police attending the crash reported Rodriguez had bloodshot eyes and alcohol on his breath, and during attempts to administer a breathalyzer test, Rodriguez "breathed very weakly and cut his breath repeatedly, all the while holding the plastic tip at the edge of his lips".

According to Rodriguez himself, "Because I'd consumed a moderate amount of wine during the previous supper, the police officer asked me to proceed with a breathalyzer test, using a hand-held machine, which I did without hesitation". Despite the criminal charge, Rodriguez remained in the Liberal caucus.

In the 2011 election he was defeated by the New Democratic Party's Paulina Ayala amid the New Democratic Party's surge in Quebec.

In government After his defeat, Rodriguez where he headed Ecolomondo, a Montreal company that now specializes in the treatment of hydrocarbon-based waste. The measure was widely applauded in the press "by an eclectic group of media outlets, including Postmedia, which owns the National Post, Torstar, which publishes the Toronto Star, SaltWire Network, and the CBC among others."

43rd Canadian Parliament Rodriguez was re-elected in the 2019 federal election.

From formation on November 20, 2019 until dissolution, Rodriguez served as Leader of the Government in the House of Commons.

44th Canadian Parliament After the 2021 election, Rodriguez was re-appointed as Minister of Canadian Heritage on October 26, 2021.

Rodriguez introduced the Online News Act, Bill C-18, An Act respecting online communications platforms that make news content available to persons in Canada. It received Royal Assent on June 22, 2023. The bill would force tech giants to compensate news organizations. The Trudeau government has dismissed the complaints of the tech giants will have to pay exorbitant amounts of money and would face uncapped liability based on how many links are posted.

In 2020, Steven Guilbeault, the Minister of Canadian Heritage at the time, proposed Bill C-10, however, due to suspension of parliament in 2021, and the call of an early election, permanently paused the bill. After Rodriguez became the Minister of Canadian Heritage, he proposed Bill C-11, the Online Streaming Act, An Act to amend the Broadcasting Act and to make related and consequential amendments to other Acts. C-11 later passed both the House of Commons and the Senate, receiving royal consent on April 27, 2023, and becoming law. It expands the power of the Canadian Radio Television-Telecommunications Commission, or CRTC, giving the CRTC flexibility on how to do the regulations. Proponents of C-11, such as Neal McDougall of TVO, argue that C-11 modernizes the ageing Broadcasting Act, ensuring online streamers and Canadian broadcasters play by the same rules, and promotes Canadian content and culture. However, C-11 has also been criticized, such as by Dr. Michael Geist, who argues multiple definitions were left undefined in C-11, including definitions on Canadian Content and mandated contributions.

On July 26, 2023, Rodriguez was appointed Minister of Transport.

Party leadership and resignation After weeks of speculation, Rodriguez announced on September 19, 2024, that he was resigning from the federal cabinet in order to run for the leadership of the Quebec Liberal Party, and would resign from the Liberal caucus to sit as an independent in order to have the flexibility to run his campaign as he saw fit. The same month, he served a legal notice to newspaper Le Journal de Montréal, after it reported that Quebec Liberal Party members were allegedly financially rewarded for voting for Rodriguez in the leadership election; he denied the accusations. The payments were reportedly nicknamed "brownies". The Unité permanente anticorruption confirmed that it opened an investigation in December 2025, and many former Liberal MNAs called for Rodriguez to resign.

He also removed Sona Lakhoyan Olivier from caucus after an ethics investigation was opened to inquire whether she used constituency office resources during the leadership race. After weeks of party turmoil, Rodriguez announced his resignation as party leader to his caucus on December 17, 2025, and to the public a day later. He is the shortest-serving leader in the party's history. In December 2025, the François Legault government passed legislation that banned vote buying in municipal and provincial leadership elections. UPAC investigators also reportedly believed that the initial JdM report may have been part of setup targeting Rodriguez. While admitting that his political career is over, Rodriquez believes that the media should be reflective of the coverage by explaining the steps they took to ensure the accuracy of their information and suggested that Quebec Press Council should be more assertive of their complaints.

Personal life Rodriguez is married to his wife, Roxane and has a daughter.

Electoral record Leadership

Federal