International Relations Minister Martine Biron said Wednesday that the skills of former CAQ candidate Caroline St-Hilaire erase any appearance of partisan appointment in the process that led her to the post of administrator of the International Organization for Peace. Francophonie, where major management challenges await.
Ms. Biron said she was satisfied that the proposal of Ms. St-Hilaire’s candidacy made by her government was retained by the Secretary General of La Francophonie, Louise Mushikiwabo.
Before going to the caucus of Caquiste deputies, Ms. Biron rejected any appearance of partisanship in the decision to submit the name of Ms. St-Hilaire, who was defeated in the riding of Sherbrooke when she was a candidate for the Coalition avenir Quebec (CAQ).
“I will give you my definition of a partisan appointment. I think a partisan appointment is when you appoint someone incompetent to an important position simply because he is a friend of the party,” she said.
According to Ms. Biron, this is not the case for Ms. St-Hilaire, whom she chose personally.
“We came up with the name of someone competent,” she said.
Furthermore, Ms. Biron acknowledged that the management of the OIF must be closely examined.
“There is work to be done at the OIF, I concede that there were issues of governance and transparency, she said. There is work that has already been done in recent years and this work is not finished, it will continue in the coming years. »
Ms. St-Hilaire succeeds two directors whose mandates ended abruptly, Catherine Cano and Geoffroi Montpetit.
More details will follow.
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