The departure of the Dr Horacio Arruda arrived quicker than expected, but that was no surprise.
We felt that the relationship between François Legault, Christian Dubé and Horacio Arruda had not been looking good for a few weeks.
Also, we have seen that certain public health decisions were questioned by public health officials in some regions.
It’s one thing for columnists to criticize you, but it hurts even more when they’re your peers.
Less colorful
Tuesday, Mr. Legault introduced us to the Dr Luc Boileau, who is now the acting director of public health. He is much less flamboyant than Mr. Arruda.
Whether it is Mr. Boileau or another person who is in charge of public health on a permanent basis, this person will not mark the imagination of Quebecers as Mr. Arruda did.
The government will now take all the place in the management of the crisis. Anyway, he is the one who makes the decisions, as the Prime Minister likes to point out.
Thus, the CAQ will have all the pressure on its shoulders in the middle of an election year.
The strategists around François Legault would have preferred to put forward subjects other than the pandemic before the election. However, it is now clear that COVID-19 will take the spotlight for at least the first half of 2022.
Take the lead
After the first months of the pandemic, Mr. Legault gave a big push by changing the Minister of Health.
The desired effect with the departure of Mr. Arruda is the same. However, nine months before the elections, this change is coming too soon.
After an extremely difficult start to the year, the CAQ must come back ahead of the parade quickly.
Because, Mr. Legault does not have many options in front of him if he wants to brew the pandemic soup again before the vote.