The Omicron variant came to cover with question marks a pre-election year which already included several. The duty offers a look at the strangers who could influence 2022 by the October poll.
When will the state of emergency end?
The state of health emergency, in force in Quebec since March 2020, allows the government in particular to close assembly places, order lockdowns and conclude contracts without calls for tenders. Last fall, Prime Minister François Legault pledged to end the exercise of these exceptional powers once the vaccination of 5-11 year olds has been completed.
He was responding to the opposition parties, who have been calling for months on the government to put an end to it or, at the very least, that it stop renewing it every ten days by decree. In particular, they suggest submitting the question to Parliament, as also permitted by the Public Health Act.
This was before the arrival of the Omicron variant, however. Unsurprisingly, the lifting of the state of health emergency seemed more uncertain than ever on the side of Mr. Legault’s cabinet, before the Holidays. Vaccination of 5-11 year olds was not mentioned. ” He is […] it is difficult to comment on the precise moment of the end of the health emergency, given the current surge in cases and hospitalizations, ”replied press secretary Nadia Talbot.
A new survey on CHSLDs?
Three different authorities have so far put their magnifying glass on the spring slaughter in residential and long-term care centers (CHSLD). The Québec Ombudsman issued its report last year. The Health and Welfare Commissioner is due to do so in January. The one from the Coroner’s Office is expected later this year. This latest investigation, led by the uncompromising coroner Géhane Kamel, will benefit from the testimony expected at the start of the year from the Minister responsible for Seniors and Caregivers, Marguerite Blais.
The gray spots, however, remain too numerous in the eyes of opposition groups, who took advantage of the fall to blame the government on its handling of the pandemic and once again demand an independent public inquiry. So far, the Prime Minister is not biting and is relying on the ongoing investigations. Exasperated before the parliamentary holiday break, François Legault asked this to elected officials on the other side of the Blue Room: “Beyond the speech, what do you propose? “
Another year of shortages?
In December, Prime Minister François Legault faced the death of a man from Abitibi-Témiscamingue after he encountered a closed emergency due to understaffing. A coroner’s inquest will determine if this situation is in question, but this episode made more important than ever the expected results of the many financial incentives announced by the government to resolve the shortage of manpower in the health network.
During the fall, bonuses of $ 12,000 to $ 15,000 were pledged to attract 4,000 nurses. A lump sum of $ 12,000 per year has been added to encourage them to go and work in the regions for two years. By early December, 1,356 people had been hired. At the end of the year, Mr. Legault gave himself another year to fill the staff shortage in essential services, including health. He then unveiled a vast qualification plan targeting in particular the training of nurses, with a generous scholarship program.
A few days before the adjournment of the proceedings, the opposition drew up a mixed assessment of financial incentives. The arrival of a new variant and the approach of the electoral deadline could increase the pressure on the government.
Who will win Marie-Victorin?
The electoral district of Marie-Victorin, abandoned by MP Catherine Fournier after her election as mayor of Longueuil, is only waiting for the call of a by-election. No additional ballot has taken place since that of Jean-Talon, in 2019. The next one will give the official start to the pre-election year, if Omicron does not force the government to make a hitch in the electoral law – this one. ci theoretically obliges him to launch the election this year.
In a constituency where nothing is won in advance, the Coalition futur Quebec is still waiting to present its candidate. The Parti Québécois, for its part, turned to Pierre Nantel, former NDP MP and candidate for the Green Party of Canada. The unelected PQ leader, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, has long been approached for the constituency of Longueuil, a long-standing stronghold of his party. He finally chose to leave his place and wait for the general election before getting wet. Where ? He will announce it “well before spring”, he promised.
What will be the political fate of Eric Duhaime?
The Conservative Party of Quebec (PCQ) has taken a step forward on the political spectrum this year. After the election of a new leader, Éric Duhaime, the formation recruited the deputy Claire Samson, breaking ban with the Coalition futur Quebec after having made a donation to the PCQ.
In a recent Léger poll, support for the PCQ hovered around 5%, at the back of the pack. In the Quebec region, however, they climbed to 15%, making the PCQ the first opponent of the CAQ in the capital and its surroundings, ahead of Quebec solidaire, the Liberal Party and the Quebec Party. Despite a 3% drop in voting intentions, Mr. Duhaime maintains that his team is accumulating contributions and multiplying its members.
Riding the wave of discontent caused by the health measures, the PCQ could recover the niche of the protest vote. Occupied by the Democratic Action of Quebec, to which Mr. Duhaime belonged for a time, it then passed to the CAQ. Until the last campaign of 2018, when the party put it aside to adopt a position of government party. The prospect of compulsory vaccination, mentioned by the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, could provide the Conservative leader with new ammunition.
Is the reform of Bill 101 going well?
The government presented it with great fanfare last spring. Now the CAQ reform of “law 101” drags on. In five separate parliamentary sessions at the end of the fall session, elected officials only managed to deal with 6 of the 201 articles of Simon Jolin-Barrette’s bill.
In Parliament, opinions are divided. In the eyes of the Parti Québécois, Bill 96 will do nothing to slow down what it describes as the abrupt decline of the French language. Even in government, not all would agree on the need to modify or not the reform, which several experts, including the sociologist Guy Rocher, considered insufficient.
The next stages of study of the bill will be decisive during this last session before the elections. The responsible minister will have more or less five months to amend or adopt it as is. There is also nothing to say whether certain parliamentary groups will try to delay its adoption. For the moment, Mr. Jolin-Barrette does not “consider” the use of the gag order.
Law 21: what result for this legal and political battle?
The Quebec Court of Appeal will in turn rule on the legality of the Law on the secularism of the Quebec State, which was adopted by the National Assembly despite opposition from the Liberals and Solidarity in June 2019. The However, the court’s decision will not seal the fate of the law banning the wearing of religious symbols by certain state employees, such as teachers, police officers, judges and prison guards.
Barring a rebound, the Supreme Court of Canada will be seized of the case. Opponents of Bill 21, galvanized by the moral and financial support of the Rest of Canada (ROC), would likely receive reinforcements from the Attorney General of Canada.
For now, Federal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is relying on Quebecers who, according to him, “are beginning to see” its “real consequences. [sur] an individual, a community, a school, children ”. For the Coalition Avenir Québec and the Parti Québécois, Mr. Trudeau has it all wrong: Quebeckers broadly support Bill 21 – a “moderate” law, according to Quebec Premier François Legault. They will demonstrate it during the next general election on October 3, they are convinced.
Another pale green climate report for Quebec?
It is only at the end of this year that the next climate report for Quebec will be made public. Quebecers will then be able to know to what extent the pandemic year of 2020 contributed to the slowdown in greenhouse gas emissions. During a press briefing at the National Assembly in December, the Minister of the Environment and the Fight against Climate Change, Benoit Charette, said he expected a “likely” drop in the figures in 2020. ” But we should not rely on that, ”he added.
Quebec has cut off a minimal portion of its polluting emissions since 1990. If it must reduce them by 37.5% in 2030, it has only done so by 2.7% so far. And the government has about eight years to pick up the pace. “It is a colossal step to be taken by 2030”, agreed Mr. Charette at the end of 2021. In 2022, the CAQ government will have the opportunity to update its green action plan, supposed to lay down the concrete bases of its environmental response. Minister Charette promises additional measures.