All 74 CAQ deputies present at the Salon Bleu during a vote on a motion, including those who said that the subsidy paid to the Kings was against their values, ultimately lined up behind Finance Minister Eric Girard.
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The dissidence was short-lived. “We rally unanimously,” CAQ leader François Legault warned at the start of the day. The deputies Yannick Gagnon, Luc Provençal and the other Éric Girard (Lac-Saint-Jean) therefore fell into line by rejecting the motion initiated by the official opposition.
Debate Wednesday afternoon, it suggested that “the National Assembly asks the CAQ government to respect the state of public finances, to cancel the subsidy granted for the holding of two pre-season games of the Los Angeles Kings and to better respond to the crying needs in many sectors in Quebec, particularly in the national capital. Only the 30 opposition MPs present voted in favor.
“The Caquists follow the party line of François Legault. All unanimous in giving $7 million to the Kings,” the leader of the official opposition, Monsef Derraji, immediately reacted to X.
The latter also took and then published on the web a photograph of the digital table illustrating the result of the vote, which made his counterpart in the government, Simon Jolin-Barrette, jump, since this contravenes the rules.
The “united” CAQ team
Before going to the Salon Bleu, Prime Minister François Legault indicated that his team “is more united than ever”.
Gathered in caucus without their advisors, Wednesday evening, the CAQ deputies had the opportunity to express their concerns, behind closed doors.
“We talked to each other, we had a long huddle, we looked at issues including the Los Angeles Kings and I think we have a united team. I think the opposition parties should be jealous of the unity of our caucus,” boasted Mr. Legault.
The Prime Minister did not take formal notice of the formal exit delivered by his deputy for Montmorency, Jean-François Simard, on Wednesday, against the mayor Bruno Marchand, whom he accused of harming the return of an NHL team in Quebec.
“Listen, he said what he had to say,” reacted the CAQ leader. Mr. Legault recalled that Mr. Marchand had offered him a Nordiques puck after his election. Proof, believes Mr. Legault, that the mayor knows “that there are many people in Quebec who would like to have the Nordiques back”.
Julien dissociates himself from Simard
For his part, the minister responsible for the National Capital, Jonatan Julien, rather sought to dissociate himself from the comments of his colleague Simard. “That’s not my point of view,” said Mr. Julien.
Like the Parti Québécois, the interim Liberal leader, Marc Tanguay, believes that Mr. Simard’s exit was a “mission ordered to pay off the mayor.” “I think he pleased a lot of Caquists by doing that,” believes Mr. Tanguay.
“Instead of attacking mayors, instead of being interested in the Los Angeles Kings trio, I say to the government: At this point, you should reshuffle your own trios,” suggested for his part PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, calling for a ministerial reshuffle.