(Sherbrooke) The loyalty of CAQ activists to their leader has reached an all-time high, despite the recent abandonment of the electoral promise of the third highway link. Prime Minister François Legault obtained the support of 98.61% of the members of his party gathered in convention in Sherbrooke on Sunday, a result superior to that which he had obtained almost 10 years ago.
François Legault narrowly surpasses the score recorded in March by Parti Québécois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, who had also been subjected to a vote of confidence at a congress of his party. He obtained the support of 98.5% of the members present, a record for a PQ leader.
Mr. Legault’s result is the highest in Quebec politics for at least many years. Jean Charest obtained 97.2% at a Liberal convention in 2008; 95% in 2000. ADQ leader Mario Dumont had already had results of 95% and 97%.
“This pat on the back that you give me today, it makes me feel good,” said François Legault during his closing speech at the convention, which had a thousand members registered. He underlined that a Prime Minister “sometimes makes difficult decisions” and “can disappoint” but that he does it himself “for the good of Quebecers”.
The statutes of the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) provide for a vote of confidence in the leader at the first convention following a general election. On October 3, François Legault won 41% of the vote and won 90 of the 125 seats, unheard of since Robert Bourassa in 1989 at the time of the PLQ-PQ bipartisanship (50% and 92 seats). The CAQ activists have clearly not forgotten this and are wiping out the back on the third link.
There was no vote of confidence at the 2020 CAQ congress – the first after the 2018 elections – due to the pandemic. The last time the party leader was subjected to such an exercise was in 2014. He scored 97.2%.
There was no suspense surrounding this weekend’s vote of confidence. The leadership test seemed without real risk. Like other elected caquistes, the Minister of Health Christian Dubé said he expected “a very big vote of confidence” from activists in the leader before the unveiling of the result.
We wondered if the CAQ activists were going to send a little message to their leader for having backed down on an important electoral promise. It was not the case.
Moreover, the file of the third link did not really hold the attention. No one spoke on the subject at the microphone on Saturday, even when the Minister of Transport, Geneviève Guilbault, was on the stage with cabinet colleagues to answer questions from activists. In the evening, she said that no one had spoken to her about the third link at the convention, including during discussions with activists from the greater Quebec City region.
According to the minister and MP for Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, Martine Biron, the activists are “looking ahead”. “Everyone is in a good mood. I think it’s time to stick together. The decision of the third link is a pragmatic decision as we often say, it’s a word we like at the CAQ, ”she said on Saturday.
Former Beauce-Nord deputy Janvier Grondin said he was satisfied with the government’s retreat, because the construction of a highway tunnel under the river between Quebec and Lévis would have been too expensive, according to him. However, he acknowledged that the decision “disturbs people” since it was an election promise. What bothers people, is it the impression of having been deceived in this file? he was asked. “Do you think this is the first time?” And do you think it’s the first party that does that? he replied.