Liberal MP Marwah Rizqy criticized Minister Bernard Drainville on Friday for showing “inaction”, particularly in the face of the “national drama” of the shortage of teachers.
In front of journalists, she brandished a document from the Ministry of Education indicating that there will be a shortage of 14,230 teachers in the school network in 2026-2027. According to her, the ministry requested that this document, dated June, remain confidential.
“I find that he suffers from immobility, that he does not sense urgency. It is not normal that with such crucial information, he did not feel the obligation, moral at least, to immediately disclose it and tell the network partners: “Shut up, ‘is confidential,’” Ms. Rizqy said.
The elected official demanded that the minister call a meeting with “rectors, deans and other stakeholders” in the education sector, in particular to discuss a review of training and the establishment of paid internships.
“We are hitting the wall, we don’t have enough graduates for the number of retirements. The least we can do is call an emergency meeting and then say: “In Quebec, we don’t have the right to fail in education”. It’s a national tragedy,” said the Liberal MP.
The document presented by Ms. Rizqy is called “Forecasts of labor needs”. The ministry notes that 24% of teachers are aged 50 or over. It also states that school service centers must hire approximately 10,000 teachers per year, 70% of whom are substitutes. However, just over 3,000 students obtain a teaching diploma each year. There is therefore “an insufficient number of graduates to meet the needs of the public network and part of these go to the private sector or to other provinces,” notes the ministry.
Not confidential, according to Drainville
Questioned for two hours at the Salon Bleu, Minister Drainville denied having hidden the document brandished by his colleague. “Not only was he not hidden, he was sent to his own commission [celle de l’administration publique], of which she is president. So, if she did not choose to make it public, we should ask her why,” said the elected official. Ms. Rizqy denied having had the document in her hands as chair of a parliamentary committee.
The minister, moreover, did not respond to the Liberal MP’s requests to hold an emergency meeting. Bernard Drainville spent many minutes holding up photos of school expansion or construction projects, one of which had been taken the same morning, he pointed out.
He continued to present these images after answering very briefly a question about Griffintown elementary school — a subject that had no connection with the photos he had in his hands. The minister was trying to reframe the debate around the construction of schools, an issue in which Ms. Rizqy accuses the Coalition Avenir Québec of favoritism.
“The needs assessment process is very rigorous. There is no partisanship with the needs assessment process. Maybe the member for Saint-Laurent is being partisan,” he said.
Irritated, Ms. Rizqy asked the minister to withdraw his words. “If it makes him happy, I withdraw my words. But I don’t think any less,” replied Mr. Drainville.