There are 1000 more elegant ways to leave politics than by comparing the elected role to a “green plant”, as Conservative Party MP Claire Samson did before leaving the National Assembly this week.
Posted at 5:00 a.m.
It all depends on how much effort everyone wants to put into it. And if, by his own admission, Mme Samson worked less hard at the Blue Salon than at the Da Giovanni restaurant in his youth, it should not be concluded that the other deputies do not have the heart to work.
At the end of the parliamentary session, the work of the deputies who are leaving politics for good deserves to be highlighted.
Our politicians are constantly subject to criticism. From opposing parties, media, voters. And this is a good thing insofar as the objective is to move the debate forward. But our elected officials also deserve a thumbs up for the essential and often underestimated work they do.
Many will leave their mark in Quebec.
This is the case of former Liberal finance minister Carlos Leitão. When he took the helm, the province’s public finances were rocking. It didn’t make the headlines, but the great treasurer had to struggle with the credit agencies who were threatening Quebec with a discount, which would have been very harmful.
Subsequently, liberal austerity was not popular. But it is all the same what has made it possible to put public finances back in the water and to better face the pandemic, which the current Minister of Finance, Eric Girard, has always had the knack of recognizing.
Among the other veterans leaving the Liberal ranks, let us highlight the contribution of Kathleen Weil, who was notably behind the modernization of the Consumer Protection Act with avant-garde measures such as the control of abusive cell phone charges.
There is also former Deputy Prime Minister Lise Thériault, Christine St-Pierre, Pierre Arcand… In fact, half of the Liberal caucus is leaving. Even recent recruits like Paule Robitaille, who only served one term, which shows that the party has a major challenge in renewing its team.
As for the Parti Québécois (PQ), we must salute the involvement of Sylvain Gaudreault, who has put his heart and soul into the fight against climate change, as the Minister of the Environment, Benoit Charette, pointed out in a transpartisan momentum in the Blue Room, which is to his credit.
Too bad he then rejected Mr. Gaudreault’s idea of creating a cross-party group with members from all parties, which would have been a great way to place an issue as crucial as the climate above political considerations.
PQ MNA Véronique Hivon, who is also retiring from the PQ, has brilliantly demonstrated that we can debate in a non-partisan way when the seriousness of an issue requires it, as in the case of medical assistance in dying. .
Unfortunately, the extension of this law of which she is the godmother could not be adopted this week, for lack of time. But it was better to postpone the project than to cut corners in such a delicate and complex file.
Hat, Mme Hivon, for your inspiring career which proves that we can do politics serenely.
Unfortunately, this is not the image that citizens have of politics when they watch question period in the National Assembly, which fills the newscasts.
Here, let us highlight the work of François Paradis, who had the thankless role of bringing order to the National Assembly during a heavy period like the pandemic. With his departure from the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ), the expertise he had succeeded in developing as President of the Assembly will be lost.
Anyone other than him will have to learn the lexicon of forbidden words, such as Ti-Coune, cabotin, coward, puppet, nono, oddball, lazy, enlightened despot, arsonist… or Prince consort of cunning.
The term childishness is also prohibited, even if it must be admitted that the Blue Room often looks like a schoolyard, with all its tension which feeds the growing cynicism towards parliamentarians.
Except that the National Assembly is much more than that. With closed cameras, there is a surprising collegiality. For example, during the study of laws, members of all parties can make amendments that improve the final result.
This process ensures that the majority (62%) of bills were adopted unanimously during the last legislature, even if it is true that the proportion was generally higher than 80% before the multiplication of political parties. .
Of course, we must also emphasize the crucial role that MPs play in their constituencies, where they are a cross between the economic development officer and the social worker. A role that was particularly heavy during the pandemic.
So for all this, our MPs deserve flowers… not a green plant.