(Quebec) Christian Dubé confirmed in an interview with 98.5 FM on Friday that he will be a candidate in the next Quebec elections on October 3. The Minister of Health, a heavyweight in the Legault government, has been raising suspense for several weeks.
Posted at 7:47 a.m.
Updated at 8:32 a.m.
“I thought about it well, and the answer is yes,” said Minister Dubé at the microphone of Louis Lacroix. “I made the decision that I was standing for re-election in La Prairie in the next election. I thought for a long time because I know the height of what there is to do, ”he explained Friday morning.
François Legault entrusted the helm of the Ministry of Health and Social Services to Christian Dubé, who was then President of the Treasury Board, in the midst of a pandemic, at the end of the first wave which was particularly deadly in CHSLDs. The prime minister then knocked out minister Danielle McCann and her deputy minister, Yvan Gendron.
Minister Dubé made no secret that the fifth wave, the Omicron tsunami, was difficult on a personal level. He mentioned it during a long interview with The Press, in March. At the time, he said he wanted to measure the adhesion of the population and the health network to his plan of refoundation – the Health Plan – before confirming his return to Quebec politics.
Until recently, his entourage indicated that he was continuing his reflection.
In an interview with 98.5, Mr. Dubé explained that he had “the support” expected from his relatives.
“I see myself as an agent of change. The first thing [pour que] the changes are successful, people have to become aware of the problem, the height of the challenge we have. I can tell you that for the past few weeks, […] I had a lot, a lot of support and that too, it weighs in my decision to say that I owe it to Quebec [de mettre le Plan santé] in place,” he said.
By unveiling his interactive dashboard, which allows the population to take the pulse of the health network in a few clicks, Christian Dubé also affirmed that “Quebecers are ripe for being told the real things”. This new dashboard should make it possible to “measure” the recovery promised by the Legault government, after a first term marked by the pandemic.
Christian Dubé is one of the most popular ministers in the Legault government. A recent Léger poll published in the Quebecor media revealed that 61% of Quebecers have a good opinion of the minister, compared to 20% who have a bad one. Mr. Dubé notably distinguished himself in the implementation of the massive vaccination campaign against COVID-19.