Legault giving himself anglo dossier has ups and downs
Premier taking on role a positive step, but ministerial position is key, Weil says
As the former minister responsible for relations with English-speaking Quebecers, Kathleen Weil said the eradication of the ministerial position under the new government represents a step back for the English community.
Newly sworn-in Quebec Premier François Legault announced Thursday he would take responsibility for the dossier, and was naming Laval MNA Christopher Skeete as his parliamentary assistant, responsible for the Secretariat for relations with English-speaking Quebecers.
“The fact Premier Legault is taking on responsibility for relations with English-speaking Quebecers, I think it sends a positive message to the community,” Weil said. But as someone who served as a minister for eight years, Weil said she has seen first-hand how decisions and policies are made, and a ministerial position is crucial.
“When you’re a minister you’re at the cabinet table — you have direct access to the minister of health, the minister of education, the minister of finance — so I was able to work horizontally, which is the mandate of the secretariat at that level, and intervene quickly and effectively.”
Access to former finance minister Carlos Leitão allowed her to secure the funding for the first consultation with the Englishspeaking community. That led to the creation of the English secretariat that was eventually granted $25 million over six years by the Liberal government in the last budget.
Former premier Philippe Couillard used the same model Legault plans to use now, until he travelled to the Gaspé and heard first-hand how members of the English community were struggling to find access to health care and education services and to keep their young people in the community. Then he decided something stronger was necessary, Weil said.
Geoffrey Chambers, president of the Quebec Community Groups Network, said the new model with Legault in charge of the file could also prove positive.
“A parliamentary assistant who has direct access to the premier, and the premier taking a direct interest in the file, is a very good model, too, and we’ll approach this in good faith and try and make this work. … In this model, it’s not impossible that the advocate is the premier himself, and you have to believe that the other ministers stand up and salute very quickly if the premier” asks for something. “I’m saying this under reserve, and we’ll see, but this model could be very effective for us, too.”
Legault did not close the doors to the English secretariat, as he implied he might during the campaign, and has said a few words in English during his swearing-in ceremony and on election night, sending the right signals, Chambers said. The QCGN is also heartened by the fact the CAQ’s priorities for the English community dovetail with their own, namely access to health care, education and jobs. They don’t align on the question of religious symbols or immigration, he noted.
For David Birnbaum, MNA for the multicultural D’Arcy-McGee riding that includes Côte St-Luc, Hampstead and parts of Côtedes-Neiges, Legault’s choice is disheartening.
“We would have expected the new premier would have built on a new practice that we properly put in place to have a minister designated for relations with, let’s remember, close to one million Quebecers who are English speaking. So we are disappointed,” Birnbaum said. “It’s important to remember we English-speaking Quebecers are full-time Quebecers who expect and deserve to have the tools to play a healthy role in the future of Quebec.”
Legault’s parliamentary assistant, Skeete, said on Thursday that the CAQ has shown an openness to speaking to the English community as Quebecers, and promised to “rebuild bridges.”
Couillard created the English language community secretariat in 2017 in response to years of demands.
In the former government’s 2018-2019 budget released in March, the Liberals pledged $24.5 million over six years for the English secretariat. The funding was earmarked for non-profit organizations and institutions aiding the English community, disseminating scientific knowledge, and helping to keep young English-speaking Quebecers in the province by improving their education levels and finding them jobs.
Statistics Canada reported Quebec’s English-speaking community in 2011 represented 935,635 people, about 12 per cent of the total population.