The prospective candidacy of Nathalie Roy for the post of President of the National Assembly was greeted with relative circumspection by the opposition on Monday, while two of her CAQ colleagues, Chantal Soucy and Sylvie D’Amour, affirm that they are also interested in the role.
Ms. Roy, who has been Minister of Culture since 2018, has received the support of Prime Minister François Legault, told the To have to the entourage of the head of government unofficially. According to what it has been possible to understand, Ms. Roy will be the only candidate submitted by the government parliamentary group to succeed François Paradis, who has left politics.
The candidacy of Ms. Roy, first reported on Monday by TVA, was broadcast while Mr. Legault will unveil the composition of his next cabinet meeting on Thursday. Ms. Roy will not be able to take part if she wishes to preside over the National Assembly.
Representatives of two opposition groups, who did not wish to be identified more precisely, welcomed this potential candidacy with certain reservations, given the requirements of impartiality and partisan neutrality required by the position.
“No one found it funny in the oppositions today, we were told on the one hand. Nathalie Roy, it’s going to be terrible. »
The ability to be able to rise above the fray and embody a “unifying” presidency is all the more important since the CAQ government has an overwhelming majority of 90 seats, we insist. go.
“We agree that Nathalie Roy has often shown partisanship,” said another opposition representative.
Former Liberal MP Gaétan Barrette believes that Ms. Roy must be given the chance to prove herself. But he doubts his ability to remain impartial if his authority is questioned in the heat of the debate.
“Having been in the opposition, I nevertheless noticed that in her functions as minister, she had difficulty living with criticism,” he told the To have to.
Two other interested caquists
It was not possible to speak with Ms. Roy but The duty joined two other members of the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) who expressed an interest in the same function.
Re-elected at the beginning of the month in Mirabel, Sylvie D’Amours, affirms that she had expressed her interest “verbally and in writing” to Mr. Legault, in recent months.
“Naïvely, for a year, I told everyone that I would like to have the position of president,” she said. The choice fell on someone else and I accept it. I have no bitterness towards that. »
Ms. D’Amours, who had a difficult time as Minister responsible for Aboriginal Affairs during the last mandate, nevertheless expressed her disappointment at finding herself at odds with her colleague.
“My disappointment is that Nathalie is going through this because she is a woman whom I respect a lot and with whom I like to work and to put us at odds in this situation, I am disappointed”, a she said.
Describing herself as “a team player”, Ms. D’Amours showed herself ready to rally behind the choice of her leader.
“If Mr. Legault has decided that Nathalie is the person to fill this position and that he thinks that it is the best person, I adhere to his choice, she said. But know that yes, I had an interest. Now it is not me who is chosen, I will continue to be an MP. »
Second Vice-President of the National Assembly, Chantal Soucy confirmed that she had also expressed her interest in a promotion.
“I expressed my interest in the role of president a long time ago, she said. I never applied for a ministerial post. »
Ms. Soucy also said that she is ready to accept the choice of the Prime Minister, unless a secret ballot allows other candidates.
“If he thinks another candidate is better for several reasons that belong to them, obviously I will go along with that decision,” she said.
Secret ballot possible
Parliamentary procedure provides that deputies have until the day before the session scheduled for the election to the presidency to submit their candidacy.
Ministers and leaders of parliamentary groups are ineligible.
“If only one deputy is a candidate for the office of president, he is automatically proclaimed elected,” indicates Chapter 4 of the Parliamentary Procedure of Quebec.
Otherwise, a secret ballot is possible.
The entourage of Mr. Legault underlined on Monday the parliamentary experience of Ms. Roy, elected since 2012, with the procedures of the House, and the fact that she is a lawyer, a function compatible with the responsibility of defending the rights and privileges of parliamentarians, which comes under the presidency of the National Assembly.
In recent years, the function has been assumed by men and the accession of a woman to this function is an additional argument, we explained on the side of the CAQ.
PQ Louise Harel was the first woman to be elected President of the National Assembly, a position she held from March 12, 2002 to June 4, 2003.