Legault vows to govern with heart
But immigration, religious symbols promises suggest trouble is looming
QUEBEC It may go down in history as the pen grab that almost toppled a minister.
After interrupting their father Mathieu Lacombe’s swearing-in as Quebec’s new minister for families with a shout of “papa,” and a sprint up the carpeted floor of the red room, one of Lacombe’s two sons, Thomas, just had to have that pen.
Not content to sit, in the lieutenant-governor’s lap no less, and watch his dad sign himself legally into cabinet, little Thomas had the crowd roaring as he wrestled the pen on the table into his little hands and refused to let go.
Eventually, a good natured lieutenant-governor, Michel Doyon, was able to get control of the tot and the wheels of history continued to turn with Lacombe’s signature on the dotted line.
Indeed, history was made Thursday at the National Assembly.
For the first time in 50 years, a Quebec government has been sworn into office that is neither of Liberal or Parti Québécois ilk, yet draws from the best elements of both to form a true coalition; the one François Legault set out to create almost seven years ago when he founded the Coalition Avenir Québec.
Sworn in as Quebec’s 32nd premier, Legault was bursting with pride as his new team, a combination of business people and technocrats, stepped out of the shadows to take their oaths of office.
It might be misinterpreted in some circles but Legault, a former PQ cabinet minister, went so far as to quote a man he said he has always admired, René Lévesque, in his remarks.
“I love Quebecers,” Legault said with emotion as his 89-year-old mother, his wife, and sons Xavier and Victor looked on. “And to respond to someone who has inspired me all my life, I have the profound conviction that, yes, we are something like a great people.”
It was an answer to Lévesque’s famous 1976 election victory speech where he — also bursting with pride — said: “We are not a small people, we are maybe something of a great people.”
But in this context, with a room filled with 400 people of all political backgrounds, Legault could just as easily been talking about a former Liberal icon, Jean Lesage, who was Quebec’s 19th premier.
Such is the dizzying political transformation Quebec is experiencing under this new regime.
What Legault’s leitmotif ultimately is remains to be seen, but in his first remarks wearing the premier’s shoes he appeared to be trying to patch things up with Quebecers in the wake of accusations the previous Liberal government lacked empathy in its zeal to balance the books.
This regime, he boldly declared in a speech following the ceremony, will govern with a spirit of “openness and humanity,” and strive to stay close to Quebecers, to listen to them.
“I want this to be the trademark of our new government,” Legault said as his ministers, 13 men and 13 women, basked in the glory of having been selected out of a massive pool of 74 CAQ MNAs.
Moments later, they were hustled off for a first meeting of the new cabinet in the Honoré-Mercier building — vacated only hours earlier by the Liberals. Again, Legault’s pragmatic side was already at work.
And after telling his CAQ MNAs Tuesday it’s OK to make mistakes, this exercise in cabinet making struck a similar cord: we can do better.
For example, criticized by environmentalists for not caring enough, Legault shifted gears, appointing a minister, MarieChantal Chassé, minister of the environment but also minister for finding “pragmatic” ways to fight climate change.
“We got the message from voters in the campaign,” Legault said. “We have to do more.”
Quebec’s beleaguered health-care system gets a break from the hardline years of Gaétan Barrette in the person of Danielle McCann, the former head of the Montreal regional health agency who will be assisted by Lionel Carmant in the junior minister’s role.
“You are going to see a 180-degree turn,” McCann told reporters. “The days of pushing people around in the health-care system are over. It’s the end of the big stick.”
As for the English-speaking community — clustered mostly on Fortress Montreal in a sea of CAQ MNAs — Legault reached out saying he wants to treat it with “respect.”
To that end he announced the MNA for the riding of Sainte-Rose in Laval, Christopher Skeete, will act as his personal parliamentary assistant responsible for keeping a dialogue open with the community.
A parliamentary assistant is not the same as a full minister — the job Kathleen Weil had — but Skeete will be in charge of the Secretariat for relations with Englishspeaking Quebecers, which will survive the regime change after all.
“What we’ve demonstrated today is that we have an openness to discussing and speaking to the English community as Quebecers,” Skeete said after the cabinet ceremony. “I think we have to rebuild the bridges.”
But the drop of Montreal’s clout in this government was hard to miss.
With only two CAQ MNAs elected on the island, Legault appointed one, former Rivière-des-Prairies—Pointe-aux-Trembles borough mayor Chantal Rouleau, minister responsible for Montreal. She also gets the junior transport portfolio reporting to the senior minister François Bonnardel.
That means Montreal, with one quarter of all Quebec residents, has one minister.
The same goes for Laval, Quebec’s third largest city.
Rouleau, the only minister who delivered her oath in French and English, was also elected at the municipal level under Denis Coderre’s banner.
“Montreal will have its voice,” Rouleau told reporters, downplaying past differences with Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante’s party.
“I’m sure that Mrs. Rouleau will work effectively with our administration on the development and influence of the metropolis,” Plante said in Montreal.
Legault, however, showed no signs either of backing down on the CAQ’s plan to bar authority figures like judges and police officers from wearing religious symbols.
He said Quebecers gave the CAQ a clear mandate on the issue and “we will respect our commitment.”
In the hot seat on this file is Simon Jolin-Barrette, a rising star in the government, who inherits not only the secularism issue, but is also in charge of immigration.
That means he is not only responsible for reducing Quebec’s immigration levels — a CAQ election promise — he also has to proceed with a bill on symbols.
“They are completely separate issues,” Jolin-Barrette insisted when asked if the dual roles seem to suggest the symbols issue only involves immigrants and not all Quebecers.
On the other hand, Legault — who talks less about banning symbols for teachers with each passing day — insisted he wants to garner the greatest possible support for his agenda.
“We will never achieve unanimity,” Legault said in his speech. “But to change things that don’t work, it is not enough to just issue a decree. You have to try and get the support of the maximum number of persons.
“I want to tell you when you have Quebecers behind you, nothing is impossible.”
The days of pushing people around in the health-care system are over. It’s the end of the big stick.