(Paris) In addition to the bosses of Alstom and Ubisoft, François Legault will meet in Paris this week the new French Prime Minister Michel Barnier, who will deliver his highly anticipated general policy declaration, roadmap, to the National Assembly this Tuesday of his mandate.
For the moment, the meeting between the two men is scheduled for Thursday, at the Hôtel de Matignon, the official residence of the French Prime Minister.
Following complex consultations, President Emmanuel Macron named Michel Barnier prime minister on September 5, two months after early legislative elections which produced no majority in the National Assembly.
Former European Commissioner and chief Brexit negotiator for the European Union, Michel Barnier is the oldest Prime Minister of the Ve Republic (73 years old). He has already made visits to Quebec when he served as minister.
PHOTO CHRISTOPHE ENA, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
Michel Barnier, new French prime minister
François Legault will meet him a week after having had an interview with President Macron in Montreal. A diplomatic hiccup occurred last Thursday evening when no member of his government was present at the official dinner organized in the metropolis by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for Emmanuel Macron’s visit. The general delegate of Quebec in Paris, the former boss of the Caisse de dépôt et placement Henri-Paul Rousseau, however participated in the event.
MM. Legault and Macron will reconnect on Thursday at Francotech, the economic forum of the Summit of the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF).
The Summit itself, which brings together the heads of state of the OIF member countries, will take place Friday and Saturday. The place of French in the digital universe will be on the agenda. The Legault government is also preparing a bill to force web giants and digital platforms to offer more French-speaking content and make it more accessible.
Arriving in Paris on Sunday, François Legault will have a first public activity on Tuesday when he will meet Quebec actor and artistic director Serge Denoncourt. The latter hosts a program broadcast on TV5, Serge à Paris, in which he introduces the City of Lights under different themes.
Wednesday will be the day with an economic flavor of the Prime Minister’s mission: Mr. Legault will have a meeting with the general director and administrator of Alstom, Henri Poupart-Lafarge.
The French giant bought Bombardier’s rail division in 2020. Its stock has fallen 54% since then. Its largest shareholder is the Caisse de dépôt et placement.
The Prime Minister will also speak with Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot. With the last Girard budget, computer and video game companies suffered a reduction in the tax credits they benefit from. Ubisoft has some 4,500 employees in Quebec, mainly in Montreal and Quebec.
François Legault also has meetings on his agenda for Thursday with representatives of French companies in the high-tech sector, Thales and Safran, heavyweights in defense and aeronautics.
He will also have an interview with former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who made a plea on secularism during a speech before the National Assembly of Quebec in April.