The King government's policy of conscription cost it popularity in Quebec, and Gariépy's critical approach gained favour. So it was that when he ran again during the 1945 election, this time as an independent, he came out ahead of his six opponents (Ryan finished fourth). During this, his second term in the House of Commons, he reconciled with his old party, and ran in the 1949 election it was once again as a Liberal. He came in fifty-nine votes behind Progressive Conservative Léon Balcer, and did not seek public office again in his lifetime.