With many lives at stake, bold decisions mattered
Philip Authier analyses what the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us about leadership.
If leading Quebec is always an exercise in managing the unexpected, Premier François Legault has had his fill over the last 10 months.
For the 300 days or so since the first case of COVID-19 was declared in Quebec, he and his government have been in the hot seat on a daily basis.
Not even the 1998 ice storm compares in terms of prolonged crisis management for a Quebec government.
“It was a lot of uncertainty,” Legault said when asked about the year that was on Dec. 11, as a fall sitting of the National Assembly — dominated by the pandemic — wrapped up. He and Health Minister Christian Dubé “are both chartered accountants, we like to know where we are going,” he said.
“I can tell you, especially in the first few months, we didn't know where it would go. So my year was very different from what I expected at the beginning (of 2020).
“I didn't expect to spend more time with Dr. (Horacio) Arruda than with my wife.”
Yet, despite the more than 7,500 deaths due to the virus and questions about certain decisions, polls show Quebecers still back the Coalition Avenir Québec government's actions and Legault's “bon pèrede-famille” leadership approach.
A Léger poll conducted from Dec. 11-13 and published Dec. 17 by the Journal de Montréal shows the Coalition Avenir Québec government still dominating the Quebec political scene with 49 per cent of voting intentions.
A sign of the toll the pandemic has taken, the level of satisfaction in the government has nevertheless slipped by nine percentage points from June. It is still high, however, at 67 per cent.
In the poll, Quebecers give Legault a score of 6.9 out of 10 for his handling of the pandemic crisis.
Another poll, of 5,003 Canadians done by the Angus Reid Institute from Nov. 24-30, has similar findings, with Legault tied at a 64-percent approval rating with British Columbia Premier John Horgan.
“Premier Legault continues to be perceived as a fixture of strength,” the polling firm said in a release, noting Legault's decision to impose a mask policy and elevate alert levels are seen as good things.
Canadians hold a high opinion of their respective premier's job performance, Angus Reid said the data reveals. But the slip in support experienced since early August by most of them “indicates the days of provincial leaders appearing incapable of doing wrong politically — as they did in the spring and summer — are long gone.”
The premiers with the weakest poll scores are those who did the least to fight the pandemic. At the bottom of the scale are Alberta Premier Jason Kenney and Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister.
Angus Reid says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau got a shot in the arm politically because the perception of voters is that he is handling the pandemic well. But managing a crisis of this magnitude is not what governments want to be doing. In fact, it's a dreadful grind, with everyone constantly second-guessing your actions. On the other hand, analysts note true leadership requires politicians at times to make unpopular decisions — and point to German Chancellor Angela Merkel's courage.
The Legault government has come in for criticism for its slowness in imposing masks in public. Day after day in the early part of the crisis, Arruda, the director of public health, said distancing and hand washing were the best way to fight COVID-19.
Fed up with waiting, at one point in March Montreal took matters into its own hands. Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante and Dr. Mylène Drouin, Montreal's public health director, sent a team to the airport to hand out masks and thermometers to arriving passengers.
There has been criticism of Quebec's muddled messaging on other subjects, such as outdoor gatherings in the summer, testing and the four days of Christmas holidays dressed up in the “moral contract” pitch.
The last question periods at the National Assembly featured the government and opposition sparring about the pros and cons of ventilators in schools. Arruda has also been criticized for his confused, meandering answers at news conferences.
The opposition parties have walked a fine line, saying they support the war on the pandemic while criticizing the decision-making process.
“Since the beginning of this pandemic, they have always been concerned about being the least unpopular possible,” Parti Québécois parliamentary leader Pascal Bérubé told reporters in mid- September. “This is why they hesitate before making a move, because they don't want people to hate them.
“But this is about responsibility, not about popularity. If you act responsibly, you're doing the right thing. If you are thinking about the next election in 2022, you are not doing a good thing.”
Liberal leader Dominique Anglade and her opposition team have honed in on the government's lack of organization. Legault “means well,” Anglade said at her end-ofsession news conference. “The problem is the level of transparency and the level of consistency of the government. He's not going to like everything he hears ... but we need to hear the truth in order to better our systems.”
“Mr. Legault has to leave his ivory tower,” added Québec solidaire co-spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-dubois. “He has to stop listening to his communications counsellors and start listening to the voices of front-line workers.”
Some analysts have noted that there are days where Legault appears to be his own worst enemy, saying things he should not and then regretting them.
“No, I don't see any,” Legault told L'actualité magazine when asked recently if he made mistakes in his handling of the pandemic. The opposition parties ripped into him for the comment. Legault said he should have chosen his words better.
“In that interview, I never said that I was perfect and that I had a perfect score,” Legault said later, noting that he conceded there was a mistake in not acting sooner to boost salaries of CHSLD workers.
Legault has also said he always followed the advice of public health, sometimes even going further to protect Quebecers than they suggested. He has said there is not a single night when he does not wonder whether he should have made a different decision.
“I am not someone who says it's like this and I am sure this is the way to go,” Legault said. “We (in the crisis team) are always questioning and discussing as a team. I think we can be proud of what we did in very difficult conditions.”
I didn't expect to spend more time with Dr. Arruda than with my wife.