Astronaut-turned-politician Marc Garneau will be Michael Ignatieff's new point man in Quebec.
Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff was to make the announcement with Garneau at noon in Ottawa.
Garneau, the MP for Westmount_Ville-Marie, takes over the Quebec wing of the party following the stormy departure of MP Denis Coderre last week.
Coderre resigned as Ignatieff's Quebec lieutenant after the leader overruled his decision on who should carry the party banner in the prized Montreal riding of Outremont.
Five members of the Quebec organization resigned in solidarity with Coderre but Quebec Liberals have downplayed any notion the party is divided. Garneau was among those who have chastised Coderre for his public exit.
Not a lieutenant
Garneau will not be called "Quebec lieutenant" as part of his new functions.
He'll instead be referred to as Ignatieff's "representative" in the province.
Party insiders say they're trying to avoid too much power being concentrated in one MP's hands.
Ignatieff says there will be a separate chief organizer in the province, who has yet to be named.
Ignatieff initially said he'd do without a provincial lieutenant, but said later there's a technical need for a leader's rep in the formal hierarchy of the Quebec party.
Polls have indicated the Liberals continued to trail the Bloc Quebecois in the province.
