Dominique Anglade wasted no time in taking off her pantsuit as leader of the opposition and donning that of aspiring prime minister. Back to his metamorphosis.
England’s Opposition
The role of Leader of the Official Opposition in the National Assembly is thankless, especially when the government in place enjoys a satisfaction rate approaching the 60% mark. “Is there someone who wants my place among the 8 million Quebecers? asked Dominique Anglade behind his desk on the second floor of the Hôtel du Parlement last Thursday.
The red light of the telephone placed on his work table flashes. The hands of the clock hanging on the wall point (at all times) to 9 am.
She is refining, with some of her advisers, the last questions she will ask Prime Minister François Legault before the dissolution of Parliament. She seeks to highlight, one last time, the main fault lines between the Coalition avenir Québec and the Liberal Party of Quebec, between François Legault and her, with formulas such as: “We will not be afraid to say that immigration is wealth, not a threat! »
“It’s very personal. I was elected with 38% [des voix dans la circonscription de Saint-Henri–Sainte-Anne en 2018], but there is one matter that I understood: my responsibility is to represent all the people in my riding: those who voted for me, those who did not vote for me. Every time I have heard the Prime Minister speak to us over the past four years about the majority of Quebeckers, I would like to remind him that the majority of Quebeckers did not vote for him. However, he must be the premier of all Quebecers, which he refused to do. I, as Premier of Quebec, will always stand up to represent all Quebecers. That’s what I feel deep inside, ”says the leader of the PLQ while scanning the room with her gaze.
” Say it ! mentions an adviser seated at the end of his work table, next to a cup where Charlie Brown and the other members of his team appear in a row of onions.
On access to a family doctor, “the prime minister has amnesia”; on the labor shortage, “the Prime Minister is disconnected”, continues Dominique Anglade before entering the arena of the Blue Room of the National Assembly.
“Weigh down on the piton repeatedly. At some point, it’s going to jump,” says another adviser dressed in a “brown” suit. madmen “.
Anglade’s proposal
Once the parliamentary proceedings were suspended, Dominique Anglade headed for her riding of Saint-Henri–Sainte-Anne, in the southwest of the island of Montreal, to be officially invested there as a candidate, then the next day in a hotel in the center. -city of the metropolis, where 250 members of the PLQ are waiting for him.
The liberal leader does not arrive empty-handed: she hands over a small red booklet adorned with the new logo of the political party.
[François Legault] must be the prime minister of all Quebecers, which he refused to do
The “Liberal Book 2022” contains all of its promises for the next general elections, scheduled for October 3. “A Liberal government will increase water charges up to 6 times”, “lower[a] the taxes of the middle class”, but will raise those of the “very rich”, “freeze[a] electricity rates” temporarily, “eliminate[era] welcome tax [les droits de mutation immobilière] for the purchase of a first property”, “offer[a] to all Quebecers who want a family doctor”, “provide[a] Dawson Cégep expansion project on track…
Dominique Anglade is counting on her electoral platform, which she decided to unveil less than four months before the election, rather than listing its content during the election campaign, to convince voters from all over Quebec to place their trust in her during of the electoral meeting. The PLQ has not had a deputy east of Montreal since 2019.
Welcomed with “Dominique, Dominique, Dominique! On Saturday, the contender for the post of prime minister took advantage of her speech to greet her members from the 17 administrative regions of Quebec. She had to do it twice for her activists in Gaspésie and the Magdalen Islands to give her a satisfactory sign of life. “I want to hear from you! she calls from the stage, generating a faint cheer from the back of the conference room. The Montreal militants were very audible, them, the PLQ representing 18 of the 27 Montreal ridings.
“The Liberal Party of Quebec is able to bring people together,” argues Dominique Anglade in front of the crowd, before adding: “For François Legault, there are just the caquistes who are Quebecers. It reduces the nation to an excluding “us”. A “we” that makes newcomers a problem. […] It’s called the old scapegoat policy. »
The 48-year-old politician promises to “put all [son] energy to ensure that this government which is outdated is replaced”.