From his residence on Île des Soeurs, François Legault is working on the composition of his next Council of Ministers, which he will unveil next Thursday. He also took the opportunity to refine his training in parallel in his pool hockey. As much for one as for the other, little information has filtered.
Faithful from the start, his chief of staff, Martin Koskinen, is in communication with Mr. Legault, as are his deputy chief of staff, Claude Laflamme, and the secretary general of the government, Yves Ouellet.
Contacted on her cell phone while she was in Lotbinière, the general manager of the Coalition avenir Québec, Brigitte Legault, said in a brief conversation hatched by the failures of the network that she had been consulted, but nothing more.
In the campaign, Mr. Legault applied himself to lowering expectations. On several occasions he repeated that he had enough good candidates to form two councils of ministers.
The caquiste chief limited himself to confirming that Christian Dubé would remain at Health. And it’s a safe bet that Eric Girard will remain in Finance. The opposite would be surprising, we could also hear this week in his entourage.
The strong man of the economy
The same goes for Pierre Fitzgibbon, whom Mr. Legault defended tooth and nail during the last mandate despite the ethical controversies that splashed him.
This week, The Press reported that the Minister of the Economy could not only keep his title, but also see his influence increase by obtaining responsibility for Hydro-Québec, which currently reports to the Minister of Natural Resources and Energy, Jonatan Julien.
According to information obtained by The duty, this hypothesis has been circulating for some time. In particular in the Quebec delegations in Boston and New York, a region of the United States where the activities of the state corporation are expanding.
On Wednesday, without in any way mentioning the possibility that it falls under Mr. Fitzgibbon, the president and chief executive officer of Hydro-Québec, Sophie Brochu, strongly underlined the importance of respect for the independence of the company. State, during an interview on 98.5 FM. Mme Brochu also asserted that electricity should not be sold at a discount to attract businesses.
During the election campaign, Mr. Legault pledged to relaunch the construction of hydroelectric dams. He had then slipped that Mr. Fitzgibbon had a long list of companies interested in establishing themselves in Quebec to take advantage of advantageous electricity rates.
These few hydroelectric waves are the only ones that make it possible to imagine more clearly the tenor of the conversations taking place on Île des Soeurs these days.
Impressions and speculations
In the CAQ ranks, deputies and ministers, some more than others, also gave their impressions and even some speculation on the form that the next Council of Ministers will take.
In bulk, opinions are unanimous on the return of Jean Boulet despite his blunder on immigration at the end of the campaign. All the elected officials agree in emphasizing that Mr. Boulet is a minister who has good relations with the deputies and with Mr. Legault.
The name of Mr. Boulet, who held the Labor, Employment and Immigration portfolios, is circulating for the position of President of the Treasury Board, but also for that of Minister of Municipal Affairs. Two places where we also see Jonatan Julien, an accountant who was also a municipal councilor in Quebec, land.
The current President of the Treasury Board, Sonia LeBel, could go to Education, where Jean-François Roberge found himself in difficulty on a few occasions. Mr. Roberge’s name was mentioned for the position of President of the National Assembly.
For the position of government House leader, some speculate: it could go to a member who is not a minister, as is the case for the Liberals in Ottawa. François Bonnardel could be interested in the function, after having exercised it in the opposition. M’s nameme LeBel had also circulated for this position during the last term. One thing is certain, it is said, Simon Jolin-Barrette was “very comfortable” in the function, which he would certainly like to keep.
Geneviève Guilbault openly affirmed at the end of the last mandate that she wished to have other responsibilities than Public Security, it is indicated.
Two deputies confided that the Minister of Agriculture, André Lamontagne, is esteemed in his functions, which he should keep, according to them.
In terms of recruits, it seems that Bernard Drainville is the only essential for a promotion. The names of several new MPs are also on the list of candidates for a ministerial position: Christine Fréchette, Sonia Bélanger and Kateri Champagne Jourdain.
With a caucus that has increased from 76 to 90 deputies, it is expected that the Council of Ministers will increase from 27 to 29 seats, including Mr. Legault, who wants training in the parity zone.