Despite the disappointment caused by the abandonment of the third link, the minister responsible for the Quebec region, Jonatan Julien, said on Saturday: “The bond of trust is all there. It’s more than trust.” He was absolutely right, it is a real cult that the CAQ militants devote to their leader.
Political party conventions often give the impression of taking place in a sort of bubble that isolates the delegates from the outside world. At the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ), this has the effect of showing life in pink, to the great benefit of Premier Legault. When Lucien Bouchard was on his honeymoon with the people of Quebec, the PQ militants rather took pleasure in martyring him.
The affection that the caquistes feel for François Legault is undoubtedly sincere, but they are also grateful to him for not trying to disturb them in their comfort and their indifference.
Those who do not want to start their dishwashers in the middle of the night will not see their electricity bills increase, and it is reassuring to hear that a new constitutional psychodrama, which could lead us God knows where, will not be not necessary to ensure the protection of French.
Last year, the Prime Minister ended the convention on a worrying note. Unless it had full powers over immigration, Quebec was headed straight for “Louisianization”. Fortunately, this is no longer the case. Since Ottawa has closed the door to any transfer of powers, Mr. Legault has discovered that those already available to Quebec will help reverse the trend.
The question is whether he was telling us lies last year or if he is doing it now. If he is still there, we will see what he will invent in a few years, when the data from the next census will indicate that the decline of French has accelerated further.
In return for the tranquility it guarantees them, the delegates to the congress have avoided anything that could have put the government in the embarrassment. The proposal on the repatriation of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, employees whose numbers are exploding, was adopted without any debate. If anyone had bothered to ask what would happen if Ottawa said no again…
On the other hand, the advisability of authorizing a right turn on a red light in Montreal, of which a Beauceron student residing in the metropolis has the good sense to underline the danger, or even of allowing restaurateurs to demand a deposit on reservations, aroused great interest.
Since the Minister of Finance, Eric Girard, had ruled out in advance the possibility of ending the monopoly of the Société des alcools du Québec, as the CAQ had once promised, the proposal to this effect was swiftly rejected.
We had planned a period of discussions with half a dozen ministers. One would have thought that the delegate from Lévis would talk about the third link to the Minister of Transport, Geneviève Guilbault. Instead, he asked her what she thought of sustainable mobility in Quebec. She found the question very interesting. Neither Immigration Minister Christine Fréchette nor her French Language colleague Jean-François Roberge were among the panelists. You can never be too careful.
When he was in the Parti Québécois, Mr. Legault had sought to hasten the departure of Bernard Landry. But the Caesar of the CAQ does not have to worry, no one will dare to play the Brutus, he will have plenty of time to choose the moment of his departure.
He said two factors will affect his decision whether or not to run in 2026: the level of public support, in other words the polls, and his state of health.
The political situation will be even more decisive. Despite the action plan for the protection of French that Jean-François Roberge is concocting, Ottawa’s decision to raise immigration thresholds to 500,000 per year will put unbearable pressure on Quebec, stuck between the shortage of of work and the limit of its capacity for integration.
By the next election, the Supreme Court will probably have ruled on Bill 21 and Bill 96. In Quebec, we are already calculating the consequences of their eventual invalidation on public opinion. The government cannot stand idly by.
When Quebec found itself at a crossroads, after the failure of the Meech Lake Accord and the Charlottetown Accord, illness forced Robert Bourassa to leave politics. Even in perfect health, Mr. Legault will no doubt prefer to leave as well rather than make a choice, regardless of its outcome, which could risk splitting his party.