Fall 2018. Mandarins from the Quebec state stop in front of offices on the third floor of the Honoré-Mercier building to invite its new occupants — Prime Minister François Legault and his suite of advisers — to entrust great responsibilities to Dominique Savoie. ” She is top “, they underline, concerned about the fate that the new CAQ administration will reserve for the career civil servant.
For good reason, François Legault called two years earlier for the dismissal of Dominique Savoie, who had delivered, according to the President of the National Assembly Jacques Chagnon, “unprepared and clumsy testimony” before parliamentarians examining the irregularities noted by the investigator Annie Trudel in the management of the Ministry of Transport, of which she had been Deputy Minister since 2011.
“Dominique Savoie blocked information. […] Me, I can’t believe it, even that it is still currently being paid to be on a government shelf, ”launched the chief caquist, François Legault, in September 2016, after being questioned about the repatriation of the high. civil servant at the Ministry of the Executive Council. She spends her time “sharpening pencils”, decried Éric Caire for his part.
“In the opposition, you make arrow of any wood”, argues a relative of François Legault, a little embarrassed, six years later.
unlikely duo
June 2020. The Prime Minister decides to replace his Health and Social Services duo: Minister Danielle McCann and Deputy Minister Yvan Gendron. “Frustration” had invaded the crisis unit: decisions taken at the top of the state were not followed quickly enough and, conversely, information from the field did not reach the ears of decision-makers quickly enough, according to him. He called on Minister Christian Dubé and Deputy Minister Dominique Savoie as reinforcements.
Christian Dubé and Dominique Savoie form “a whole duo”; the first establishing the vision, the second leading the operations, underlines a political adviser, pointing to the work Driving change. Eight-step roadmap Professor Emeritus of Havard Business School John Kotter, who was “strongly recommended” to him by his boss… Christian Dubé. “Management and leadership must both be present within the guiding coalition, and operate in tandem, like a team. The first ensures control of the entire process while the second fuels the change”, can we read in the reference manual.
It was the secretary general of the government, Yves Ouellet, who had recommended to the prime minister to entrust the orders of the ministry of Health and social Services to Dominique Savoie. She was then busy “putting order” in the platform I contribute.
Those who have worked with her are full of praise for her. “With Dominique, we had the right time”, “She is much more structured than her predecessor”, “You talk to her, she focuses her attention on what you say to her”, “She is methodical”, “She is immensely respected: people listen to it and follow it. »
“The ‘PM’ appreciates him a lot,” said a member of his close guard, before adding: “I think he is happy today not to have managed to get his head [en 2016]. »
Reform unlikely
June 2020. The new Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, and François Legault agree to take care of the “urgent” – facing the second wave of COVID-19 -, but also the “important”, c ie to strengthen the health system while increasing its efficiency. Employees from the minister’s office immediately set to work laying the foundations for what would prove to be one of the most important reforms in the health network.
“At the beginning, it was not clear that we were going to play in the structures”, specifies a CAQ strategist, recalling that a reorganization of the “structure” of the health network was the “last affair” that the elected officials of the Coalition avenir Québec intended to undertake after their arrival in government four and a half years ago. In 2018, they had only agreed to make “piecemeal improvements”, such as “offering a family doctor to all Quebecers”.
But COVID-19 hit. In January 2022, the Health and Welfare Commissioner, Joanne Castonguay, proposed “a gradual transformation of the health and social services system that must begin with a radical transformation of governance”. In June 2022, Deputy Minister Savoie recommended “creating a formal coordination and supervision body to optimize access to health care and social services and improve their fluidity”. On the eve of the election campaign, Christian Dubé briefly presents to the electorate his plan for a Health Quebec agency, which will direct the operations of the health and social services network. On Wednesday, he presented a bill of 1180 articles lying on 308 pages.
“We are in a scenario of “radical change” to use an IQ term [quality improvement] “, chirped the doctor Joseph Dahine.
But “Christian doesn’t like people talking about ‘reform'”, we confide to the Duty.