The economic update from Finance Minister Eric Girard was a pleasant surprise and new spending was well targeted. He always has the answer to everything. His mandate to bring the Nordiques back to Quebec made some smile, but everyone wants him to succeed. AT
Signature in extremis of an agreement with the educators enabled Sonia LeBel (Treasury Board) to carry out the revolution of granting differentiated salary increases in the public sector. Unfortunately, she does not show the same pugnacity in Canadian Intergovernmental Affairs. AT-
Christian Dubé (Health) had to back down twice in the face of unvaccinated health workers, he closed emergencies in the regions and he recognized his inability to keep the promise of a family doctor for everyone by the end of the present mandate. Despite this, maintaining such great credibility is almost a miracle. B
Whether it is the fight against violence against women, in particular through the introduction of anti-reconciliation bracelets, against arms trafficking or youth crime, Geneviève Guilbault (Public Security) has been hyperactive, but this outstanding communicator has the annoying habit of unfortunate word choices. Declaring that the future Culture and Quebec Citizenship course will have “a little chauvinistic side” was very awkward. B
Simon Jolin-Barrette (Justice) made major progress with the creation of a tribunal specializing in crimes of a sexual nature and domestic violence. The role of parliamentary leader requires knowing how to play elbow, but it sometimes shows bad faith which does not contribute to cleaning up the climate in the National Assembly. B
Jean Boulet (Work, Employment) is making great efforts to fight against the labor shortage by re-qualification of workers. He could not achieve unanimity on Bill 59 on occupational health and safety, but it was urgent to modernize a regime that dated back 40 years. B
Mathieu Lacombe (Family) has pleaded for a substantial adjustment in the remuneration of daycare educators. The first bill introduced this fall dealt with child care, and its commitment to childcare centers is clear. The history of the file, however, allows a certain skepticism on the possibility of creating 37,000 places in four years. B
The fragmentation of agricultural land is not without risk, but the multiplication of small artisanal farms desired by the Union paysanne, in the spirit of the Pronovost report, is certainly desirable. The efforts of André Lamontagne (Agriculture) to promote local purchasing must also be encouraged. B
Ian Lafrenière (Aboriginals) managed the aftermath of the coroner’s report on the death of Joyce Echaquan as well as possible, but relations with the First Nations remain difficult. Last month, Indigenous leaders called Premier Legault “arrogant”, “paternalistic” and “dishonest”. B
The new Act respecting tourist accommodation establishments, which gives municipalities better control, has calmed their fears about Airbnb. The efforts of Caroline Proulx (Tourism) to promote vacations in Quebec have undoubtedly helped to regain the traffic before the pandemic in certain regions. B
Andrée Laforest (Municipalities, Housing) took the means to strengthen the sense of democracy and the ethics of elected municipal officials. She still does not seem to have grasped the reality of the housing crisis and refuses the creation of a rent register. Spending $ 2 billion on the renovation of low-cost housing will not solve the problem of abusive owners. VS
Jean-François Roberge (Education) found himself in the hot seat less often, but COVID still hit schools in Quebec harder than elsewhere in Canada. The replacement of the Ethics and Religious Culture course by Culture and Quebec Citizenship was well received. The signing of a joint letter with his French counterpart, Jean-Michel Blanquer, to denounce the culture of cancellation was a great initiative. VS
The abandonment of the LNG Quebec project and the official renunciation of any exploitation of hydrocarbons on the whole of the territory have somewhat restored the image of Benoit Charette (Environment), but he did not increase his credibility by declaring that the third link would go ahead regardless of the findings of the studies. VS
His colleague from Transport, François Bonnardel, was already almost pitiful to have to defend the indefensible, but he frankly ridiculed himself by asserting that the construction of an eight-kilometer tunnel under the river would be “carbon neutral”. D
By authorizing the sale of Maison Chevalier to the Tanguay Group, Nathalie Roy (Culture) once again gave the unfortunate impression that Quebec’s “pride”, which Premier Legault constantly evokes, does not apply to heritage. built. D
By neutralizing the Régie de l’énergie and aligning electricity rates with inflation, Jonatan Julien (Energy and Resources) allowed them to explode, while subscribers had to find their account. Maine’s opposition to the passage of the Hydro-Quebec transmission line to Massachusetts was a costly setback. D
After completely losing interest in their fate, Pierre Dufour (Forest, Wildlife, Parks) is now delighted that there will still be a few isolated herds of woodland caribou in five years. After years of opacity, he has just discovered that his ministry would benefit from being a little more transparent. D
There is no doubt that Pierre Fitzgibbon (Economics) is competent, but he is an unrepentant delinquent. After the multiple blames of the Ethics Commissioner, his intrusion into assistance programs for companies hit by the pandemic, for which he makes no apologies, has been harshly criticized by the Auditor General. D
The “face-to-face” return to school was a blessing for CEGEP and university students, but the Minister of Higher Education, Danielle McCann, was caught up in her past in Health. His appearance before Coroner Kamel, who is investigating the tragedy of the CHSLDs, was a real disaster. E
P.-S. As usual, the prime minister and deputy ministers are not rated, as well as those whose state of health did not allow them to fully assume their functions during the session.