MONTREAL - The embattled leader of the Parti Quebecois said Wednesday that the door is open if her departed members want to return to the party caucus -- but she's making one exception.
Pauline Marois says she'd gladly welcome back three of the four members who left the pro-independence party this week but would not be so quick to accept the fourth, Lisette Lapointe.
That persona non grata is, ironically, the wife of the living figure most beloved by card-carrying Pequistes: Jacques Parizeau.
The ex-premier, who brought Quebec to the cusp of independence in 1995, walked out of the legislature with his wife this week.
But regardless of her husband's popularity, the current leader appeared cold to the idea of making amends with Lapointe.
"(She's) not welcome," Marois told Montreal radio station 98.5 FM. She said Lapointe would have to show a little more respect for party policy.
Some Pequistes have criticized the leader over her cautious approach to pursuing independence, over her leadership style, and over her handling of the Quebec City arena debate.
Lapointe was especially critical, describing the caucus atmosphere as stifling.
Of the four members the PQ lost this week, three were among most famous and popular ones on the party's front bench.
Pierre Curzi is a famous actor-turned-politician; Louise Beaudoin is a 40-year political veteran who worked to build international support for Quebec independence; and Lapointe is a longtime party activist married to a man with considerable influence over Pequistes.
Marois moved to quell some of the dissent with a long, emotional caucus meeting Tuesday where she promised a few changes.
Namely, she loosened up the discipline for members uncomfortable with the arena project.
The PQ party president said Wednesday that the bleeding has stopped.
Raymond Archambault went to Quebec City to give the party's elected members a pep talk and in fact, the party president said, he believes that the situation is actually reversing.
"There are people who wish, if it were possible, that they could turn back time," he said.
"There are certain people who regret (leaving) but I don't want to give any names. They can announce it themselves."
Now the party appears mildly divided over another thing: whether to welcome back the malcontents.
One MNA, Danielle Doyer, expressed opposition to letting Lapointe or Jean-Martin Aussant, who were especially critical of Marois, return to the fold.
She felt the same way about Beaudoin who, according to Doyer, had been going around telling people she wanted to leave.
As for Lapointe, Doyer said she may have found it stifling in the party, but, "I think sometimes she made it hard for us to breathe and express our opinions."
However, prominent front-bencher Bernard Drainville seemed prepared to toss open the proverbial door.
"I hope they come back," he said. "They never renounced sovereignty, they still love the Parti Quebecois, they are still Pequistes in their heart and, for my part, I'll always hope they return.
"As a matter of fact, I did everything I could to keep them from leaving in the first place."
One of the younger elected members expressed ambivalence.
Nicolas Girard said it was an open secret that Lapointe wanted to challenge Marois' leadership -- but that the party was solidly united behind its leader.
He also referred to the age of the defectors, most of whom were in their 60s. Girard suggested perhaps generational issues were at play.
"A new generation of sovereigntists was elected in 2008," Girard said.
"We never knew Quebec without the French language charter, without the Charter of Rights. We are sovereigntists for reasons, perhaps, different from our parents."
