The former Minister of Health Gaétan Barrette had already decided for a long time to leave politics at the end of his mandate, he assured Monday evening.
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“I made the decision to quit politics by entering politics,” said Barrette in an interview with TVA Nouvelles. Everyone who has worked with me knows, the number of jokes I made on this subject are endless. “
Elected in 2014 under the banner of the Liberal Party, Mr. Barrette had given himself the time of two terms to accomplish what he wanted to do.
“I am not a career politician,” Mr. Barrette clarified. It’s okay to have a career politician, but you also need people who come with expertise and who will make things happen and that is the role I have given myself. ”
A serene man
Mr. Barrette now feels serene and freed from certain constraints.
He says he really enjoyed doing politics, and that Sunday will remain particularly engraved in his memory.
“Yesterday, we had a caucus before the announcement, which I thought was going to last five minutes, to say that I will not represent myself, and it lasted almost an hour. The comments and testimonies that were expressed by my colleagues, it was very moving and unexpected, it was felt, it was magnificent ”, he confided.
The former Minister of Health and Social Services explained that in a group, “we don’t spend our days telling each other that we love each other and that we feel good”.
“We’re doing our job. When there comes a moment like that where people express themselves, it is heartwarming and I thank them very much, I did not expect that, and me, it is a magnificent moment in life in politics that will remain etched in my memory for a very long time, ”he said, visibly moved.
A polarizing politician
Mr. Barrette has carved out a reputation for himself as a polarizing deputy, a qualifier that does not affect the main party concerned.
“When I came into politics, I expected this. It is very rare when we make a lot of changes that we do not upset or upset certain people, it is very rare that there is no resistance to change. “
Politics is polarizing, according to Mr. Barrette. However, he describes himself as the kind of person who can step aside and keep moving.
Some regrets
In announcing his withdrawal from politics on Sunday, Mr. Barrette identified some regrets.
“If I had to redo what I did I would do it in a different tone, people often criticized me for the tone,” he noted, while admitting to being sharp.
“When I started in politics, it was a tone that was sought after, people wanted that kind of oratorical joust there and I lent myself to the game to a certain extent.”