(Edinburgh) Prime Minister François Legault closes the door to a cabinet reshuffle in his last year in office.
After proroguing the parliamentary session and presenting an inaugural speech, in order to breathe new life into his government and turn the page on the pandemic, the CAQ leader does not feel the need to shuffle the cards in his cabinet.
“I am very satisfied with my team,” he said Tuesday in an interview with The Canadian Press in Edinburgh, where he is to take part in COP26, the United Nations Conference on Climate Change.
There has not been a complete reshuffle of this first Caquist government since its election in 2018, which is quite rare in the history of governments in Quebec.
“I have a good team to move forward,” assured the Prime Minister less than a year before the general election in October 2022.
He stressed that his government has two “big challenges”, in health and in the economy, and that it has taken care to entrust the first to Christian Dubé, an “excellent manager”, and the second to Pierre Fitzgibbon, “an excellent Economy Minister “.
“I don’t feel the need to do a reshuffle, I don’t want to do it just for fun. ”
Currently, two Caquist ministers, Nadine Girault, for International Relations and Immigration, and Marguerite Blais, responsible for Seniors, are temporarily absent for health reasons. The functions of Mme Girault were entrusted to Deputy Prime Minister Geneviève Guilbault and Minister Jean Boulet. Christian Dubé took over from Mr.me Blais.
Since 2018, rather than redistributing all the portfolios, the Prime Minister has instead transferred or demoted some of his ministers.
Among these targeted mutations, let us note that Danielle McCann was fired from the Ministry of Health during the pandemic in 2020 to be relocated to higher education. Christian Dubé, then President of the Treasury Board, replaced her. It was Sonia LeBel, then at Justice, who inherited the Treasury Board and Justice went to Simon Jolin-Barrette. He who also had Immigration gave this portfolio to Nadine Girault.
Earlier in the mandate, the Prime Minister disgraced his Minister of the Environment, MarieChantal Chassé, in favor of Benoit Charette. Similarly, he had failed Sylvie d’Amours, at Native Affairs, to instead give a promotion to Ian Lafrenière.