I worry about François Legault. Seriously. First, we have to give him the tribute he deserves. Thirteen years ago, he launched the most arduous undertaking possible: creating a new political party. He had only one goal: to become a premier who would propel the Quebec economy, as he believed he was capable of. At the same time, he wanted to give the education system a boost. The rest? Distractions.
Patiently, he recruited personalities, found candidates, swallowed what was left of Mario Dumont’s party, and weathered the electoral storms. He knew he had bet right on the national axis: neither Trudeau nor Parizeau. So, between two chairs, where the majority of Quebecers lived. He knew he had bet right on the left-right axis: in the centre-right, where the majority of Quebecers lived, especially after the years of PQ activism. The junction still had to happen. That was the case in 2018. It still had to last. That was the case in 2022.
In both cases, the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) was only progressing thanks to François Legault, who was the founder, captain and CEO of the operation. “We give Legault” was one of the most effective CAQ slogans, showcasing its main — its only? — product in stores.
We can never say enough about the feat that is the invention, the emergence and then the taking of power, against the force of inertia, of a new political vehicle. This does not even happen once in a generation. It only happens if we find, of course, a conjuncture, but also a character who has a will and a political sense of rare vigor.
Now let’s look at the downward slide. The Prime Minister’s communicators informed journalists that a key aspect of their fall strategy would be to… hide the Prime Minister. Gee, they might argue, look how his absence throughout the summer was beneficial to the CAQ! The government’s popularity rating climbed five points! The less we see of him, the better off we are!
So, you should know that François Legault will now be passing quickly through the corridor he is forced to walk along to get from his office to the Assembly. I promise: unlike last year, he won’t even have any fruit to show us. Every day of the session, a minute of televised discomfort. When the Prime Minister’s office was in the bunker, on the other side of Grande Allée, Robert Bourassa, René Lévesque and Lucien Bouchard took the tunnel, then the elevator, and could thus completely avoid the nuisance of a swarm of scribes. (Claude Morin used to camp at an intersection of the tunnel, in ambush, to catch René Lévesque on the fly. Lucien Bouchard had a small three-wheeler to make it easier for him to get around. We, the councillors, had to run after him. It amused him.)
Why not move the PM’s offices there, so that François Legault, like Fantomas, only makes surprise appearances and then disappears? Or build a new tunnel, or a new footbridge, with controlled access between his current office and the Assembly? (I’m being prompted: a third link.)
I feel sorry for him. I can’t imagine how he can calmly endure the obligation that is imposed on him – and that he seems to accept – to erase himself like this. To shrink himself like this. This man usually has a healthy ego. Here he is forced to repress it daily. I am not a doctor, but I know that everything that is repressed ends up messing up an organ, at its most vulnerable point.
The departure of Pierre Fitzgibbon is an aggravating factor. You can’t get rid of your Siamese twin without showing off a damn scar. Yet, in this tearing away, there was an opportunity for François Legault to grow. I take nothing away from Christine Fréchette by saying that, compared to Fitz, no one would come close (warning to proofreaders: imminent inappropriate metaphor) to his size.
Only one member of this government can claim to know the economy, and energy, as much as the deserter from Terrebonne: François Legault. He should have appointed himself Minister of Energy. After all, Jean Lesage was his own Minister of Finance, Duplessis (Duplessis, François, a reference, no?) was his own Attorney General. Jacques Parizeau was, for a time, after a resignation, his own Minister of Culture.
Legault, Minister of Energy, then. Why? To defend the bill on Quebec’s energy future, of which he is, basically, the sponsor, if not the father. So that we can see him, every day at the parliamentary committee, discussing with all those who present their briefs: experts, businesses, environmentalists. Legault would not be, as in a press conference or question period, in a partisan, contradictory, spiteful climate. On the contrary, he would be the leader in action, listening and in dialogue, on the most important project of his second term: doubling Hydro’s electrical power, planning the future, decarbonizing Quebec. His legacy, in other words! With a bit of luck, we would discover him sometimes focused, sometimes smiling, sometimes questioning, snatching up a good idea, countering a specious argument, fully invested in the search for the common good.
This commission, with the Prime Minister starring in his most suitable role, would overshadow all other political news. He would have his delegate minister (Fréchette, for example) at his side, who would then have the thankless task of debating clause by clause. But it is the super-Prime-Minister-of-Energy Legault who would draw the conclusions, announce the amendments/improvements, collect the majority vote, and the credit, for a historic law. After this performance, we would ask ourselves the question: wasn’t there someone else who wrote this bill, not long ago? A name with a z in it? It would no longer matter.
But to make such a significant, risky and potentially fruitful decision, we would need to find a bold François Legault. The one who founded the CAQ 13 years ago. Not the one who is keeping his distance today.