“It’s going to be hard,” predicts Legault
François Legault has no illusions. “I expect it to be tough in the coming weeks and months,” analyzes the Prime Minister, as he ends the parliamentary session by imposing a gag order to adopt Bill 15, his mammoth reform of the health system.
Despite the loud cries of the opposition, there was no question for him of postponing its adoption to 2024. “There is always great resistance to changes, […] but I consider that we were elected for that,” he says.
On Thursday, the government also adopted Bill 23, a second reform of education structures since it came to power. The adoption of the housing bill will have to wait until next year.
Now that these two major legislative measures in health and education are in place, how long will it take for them to produce results? “You will judge me in 2026. We have three years ahead of us,” replies Mr. Legault.
PHOTO JACQUES BOISSINOT, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Prime Minister François Legault approaches his lectern on the sidelines of question period in the Blue Room of the National Assembly.
In view of the next electoral meeting, the leader of the Coalition Avenir Québec wants to dispel doubts. He reiterates once again that he wants to obtain a third term. However, in the past, the CAQ leader has always affirmed that he would run if he had the health and support of the population. While this second variable is wavering, why is he already confirming his place on the starting line?
I want to be there in 2026. […] I sense some support in my caucus. People have asked me to confirm it and to stop putting conditions.
François Legault. premier of Quebec
The Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, promises that he will at least finish his mandate. The “superminister” of the Economy, Innovation and Energy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, has already suggested that he will not run again in 2026.
Regarding the polls, François Legault affirms that he is not “in politics to win a popularity contest”. The last few months have in fact marked the first setback for his party in the Quebec region, where he lost the by-election in the riding of Jean-Talon to the Parti Québécois.
If his government has become entangled in recent months with thorny issues, such as the increase in the salaries of deputies and the subsidy to the Los Angeles Kings, the CAQ leader is looking to the battery industry to find a smile again.
“We are really in the process of preparing Quebec’s economy for the next generations. […] I find it very exciting,” he says.
PHOTO JACQUES BOISSINOT, THE CANADIAN PRESS
The interim leader of the Liberal Party of Quebec, Marc Tanguay, during his end-of-session press briefing
The Liberals are banking on… 2025
Unable to increase voting intentions, the liberal troops have their eyes fixed on… 2025.
Without giving up on the next year, during which the Liberals promise to invest in their work as the official opposition, interim leader Marc Tanguay analyzes that there are “cycles” in democracy, suggesting to his troops a little patience.
We have a sequence in front of us. We will have the opportunity, in the spring of 2025, to be at the end of a leadership race […]. In the meantime, the revival of the party has begun.
Marc Tanguay, interim leader of the Quebec Liberal Party
Until then, “the energy is there,” says Mr. Tanguay. “We are solid, in the Liberal Party of Quebec. Bring some challenges, bring some challenges,” he says.
“The CAQ is like a GPS that is constantly “recalculating in progress”, without ever guiding us with a clear vision,” he denounces.
PHOTO JACQUES BOISSINOT, THE CANADIAN PRESS
The parliamentary leader and co-spokesperson for Québec solidaire, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, during his end-of-session press briefing
A “colorful” session
Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois admits: the last session was “colorful” for Québec solidaire. Whether it is the publication of Catherine Dorion’s book – in which she harshly criticizes her leadership -, Sol Zanetti’s “balloon” at the Salon bleu or even the insult of parliamentary leader Alexandre Leduc towards Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette , there was “turbulence”.
However, he does not believe that the population will hold it against him. On the contrary, Mr. Nadeau-Dubois believes that his caucus has been “resilient”.
Despite a plateau in the polls, Mr. Nadeau-Dubois believes that the last congress of his party marks “a turning point” with the election of the defeated MP for Rouyn-Noranda–Témiscamingue in 2022, Émilise Lessard-Therrien, to the post as co-spokesperson, where she succeeds Manon Massé. It was also during this congress that Mr. Nadeau-Dubois received the support of 90.1% of the delegates, which gave him free rein.
PHOTO JACQUES BOISSINOT, THE CANADIAN PRESS
The leader of the Parti Québécois, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, during his end-of-session press briefing
The sovereignty project explained in 2024
Galvanized by favorable polls (the Parti Québécois surpasses the CAQ in voting intentions, according to two consecutive polls), Paul St-Pierre Plamondon will lead a tour in 2024 “to the four corners of Quebec” to “explain well, respond well to all questions about what an independent Quebec allows.”
If it presented its year 1 budget for a sovereign Quebec in October, the PQ will present in 2024 its response to the Initiative of the Century, which promotes sustained growth in immigration to Canada.
Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon did not want to commit on Friday to presenting the details of the “referendum mechanics” before the 2026 election. The start of the session was also marked by a historic gain in Jean-Talon, with the The election of lawyer Pascal Paradis, which allowed the party to have a fourth deputy. “It’s encouraging,” simply summed up the PQ leader.