Pablo Rodriguez after his resignation as Quebec Liberal Leader in Montreal on Thursday. He has denied any knowledge of unethical activities by some of his supporters.Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press

The producer of Radio-Canada’s annual Bye bye comedy retrospective, a New Year’s Eve tradition in Quebec for more than five decades, conceded this week that the show’s writers have been frantically revising their script to keep up with late-breaking political events.

The Thursday resignation of Pablo Rodriguez as leader of the Quebec Liberal Party, six months after being elected to the job and 10 months before the next provincial election, has given Bye bye’s creators yet another last-minute political bombshell to consider.

Mr. Rodriguez’s comedic reign atop the QLP had already provided plenty of fodder for the Bye bye before his departure. The saga has now veered into tragedy, destroying the former federal Liberal cabinet minister’s political career.

Truth be told, the mess in which Quebec’s oldest political party finds itself is no laughing matter. Not for the province, which is facing a period of renewed political turbulence as the sovereigntist Parti Québécois leads the polls. And not for Canada, with........

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