(Quebec) Prime Minister François Legault plans to split the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, an idea proposed in particular by Pierre Fitzgibbon, who sees himself at the head of a superministry of the Economy.
Posted at 5:00 a.m.
Mr. Legault will unveil the composition of his new Council of Ministers on Thursday, October 20. The swearing-in ceremony of the 90 CAQ deputies will be held two days earlier, on Tuesday. Until then, the watchword is that the discussions around the composition of the ministerial cabinet remain tight: we do not want to look crestfallen at the Salon Rouge next Tuesday.
Approximately one-third of the caucus will have a seat at the cabinet table. “It will be heartbreaking choices,” said François Legault last week.
PHOTO JACQUES BOISSINOT, CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
Premier Francois Legault
During the election campaign, he assured that Christian Dubé would remain in Health, while mentioning the maintenance of two delegate ministers – in addition to Lionel Carmant, the former CEO of the CISSS du Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de -Montreal Sonia Bélanger would become responsible for Elders with the mission of developing home care.
Eric Girard (Finance) and Pierre Fitzgibbon (Economy) would keep their functions, but the latter wishes to broaden his responsibilities and become a sort of super-minister of the Economy, as Bernard Landry was able to be.
According to his vision, other ministers would report to him, such as that of International Relations in the context where Québec delegations abroad have a more important economic vocation than before.
Pierre Fitzgibbon is campaigning to split Energy and Natural Resources, which are currently part of a single ministry. A reflection is underway on this subject, we confirm in the cabinet of François Legault.
When it comes to energy, the stakes are high. François Legault has promised to relaunch the construction of hydroelectric dams. To achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and meet increased demand, “we will have to build half a Hydro-Québec in the coming years,” he said. It is “the largest economic and ecological project in the history of Quebec”. François Legault also wants to increase the production of wind energy. The development of the electric battery sector has also been one of the priorities of the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) since it came to power in 2018.
In recent years, Hydro-Québec has already studied the idea of a new dam on the Petit Mécatina River, on the North Shore, in the riding of the newly elected caquiste Kateri Champagne Jourdain (Duplessis), who was until recently director of community relations for the Apuiat wind farm project. She is the first Aboriginal woman to enter the National Assembly, and many at the CAQ see her in the Council of Ministers with an economic portfolio.
Several elected CAQ members, however, covet functions of an economic nature.
This is the case, among others, of Simon Jolin-Barrette – whom many still see as Minister of Justice – and Geneviève Guilbault. Their goal is to broaden their range of experiences. Sonia LeBel shares this wish and wants to leave the Treasury. We see it in Education; she has not led a “network ministry” so far.
The reflection has been underway for a few months already, but the Ministry of Forests, Wildlife and Parks could be dismantled. Forest would go to Natural Resources; Fauna and Parks, to the Environment – a ministry which, moreover, would be closely associated with the energy transition in order to give it a slightly more economic role.
Re-elected in Abitibi-Est, Pierre Dufour would lose his position as Minister of the Forest. His continued tenure is uncertain. At the CAQ, we highlight the victory of his riding neighbor, Daniel Bernard, who beat the outgoing MP for Rouyn-Noranda–Témiscamingue, Émilise Lessard-Therrien, of Québec solidaire. He was a municipal councilor for Rouyn-Noranda and previously sat as a Liberal member of the National Assembly.
Geneviève Guilbault knew since June that she would no longer be minister responsible for the Capitale-Nationale. There could be a minister responsible for the Greater Capital Region, bringing together Quebec and the South Shore.
François Legault wants to make it a “second metropolis”. Bernard Drainville could inherit this position, as well as the Transport portfolio, at the helm of the third link. His riding neighbor and another recruit, Martine Biron, could obtain higher education, according to what is circulating at the CAQ.
Among the other recruits who return to the discussions about the Council of Ministers are Céline Haytayan, who was responsible for international affairs at the multinational Ubisoft, and the former president of the Union of Quebec Municipalities Suzanne Roy.
It is hard to see how Andrée Laforest would lose her seat on the Cabinet and her responsibilities to represent Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean. Re-elected in Chicoutimi, she obtained the highest percentage of votes among the 90 Caquiste deputies (62.3%).