(Lévis) Bernard Drainville rejects the label of a man who has a sense of theater. He is at most an “intense”, replies the one who abandoned a contract worth at least $1.3 million over three years with 98.5FM in 2022 to return to politics. To those in the school network who have had enough of his cookie-cutter style and who are praying for a change of ministry, he responds by vowing to “remain Minister of Education” until 2026.
Earlier this month, The Press followed the Minister of Education for a week on all his trips, from his constituency office in Lévis, where he has the most beautiful view of the Château Frontenac, to visits to schools in Beauce and Chaudière-Appalaches, meetings at his office on 16e floor of Complex G in Quebec, to the office of François Legault, for whom he declares his loyalty and dismisses the idea of one day succeeding him as leader of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ).
On this point, the current political context is conducive to rumors. The CAQ are accumulating bad polls and the Prime Minister has just lost the chief whip of his caucus, Eric Lefebvre, who will be a candidate for Pierre Poilievre’s federal conservatives. Behind the scenes, names are circulating about the identity of those who imagine themselves taking the seat of the founder of the CAQ.
“I have already seen myself as prime minister […], but honestly, I have more realistic aspirations now. I have passed my turn,” says Mr. Drainville at his office in Lévis, his back resting on an ergonomic cushion which follows him everywhere due to the back pain he suffers from his many hours spent working in the car.
In a little over two years, at the next general election, the CAQ minister will be 63 years old. He already confirms that he wants to renew his mandate as deputy, but above all says he wants to serve with François Legault as leader. The Prime Minister has repeatedly stated that he will be at the starting line.
I want Mr. Legault to represent himself. I want to win with him. And I find that after 2026, we have come a long way. I can’t wait to be a grandfather. I also have a wife that I love and at some point, we might want to take some time for ourselves. In other words, I don’t have this aspiration.
Bernard Drainville
Challenging months
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, LA PRESS
Bernard Drainville asks questions to students during a visit to a primary school in Saint-Georges, in Beauce.
Bernard Drainville has been at the helm of Education since October 2022. The first half of his mandate was difficult. It was notably marked by the significant shortage of qualified teachers and professionals in schools, then by the adoption of a controversial bill on school governance, with which it gave itself the powers to appoint and to dismiss the general directors of school service centers. The minister also went through a historic strike in education which resulted in the renewal of collective agreements at the last minute thanks to the close votes of union members, testifying to their deep dissatisfaction with the state of the public network.
In parallel with all these issues, the colorful personality of Bernard Drainville has also made the headlines more than once because of his numerous emotional outings in defense of the third highway link between Quebec and Lévis that his government promised, abandoned, then put back on the map. On the internet, photos of his funny faces have been transformed into humorous memes, where some have renamed him “Burnout” Drainville.
It is in this context that The Press this spring offered the minister to accompany him for a week in his duties, to observe closely – and without filter – his way of working. We asked to have the greatest possible access without compromising, in return, the confidentiality of certain discussions. Bernard Drainville accepted our offer, explaining that he wanted to open a window into the daily life of a minister, who must now deliver the results promised by his reforms.
“I really like my job and I’m in a very good mood,” he says. His colleagues also affirm that the energy has never wavered in recent months. In the morning, around 5:30 a.m., he frequently sends text voice messages to his colleagues (sometimes more than 20 minutes long), in which he unpacks his fresh ideas on the issues of the day while he engages in his daily treadmill session.
But behind the scenes, those we call the “partners” of the Ministry of Education are growing impatient with their minister, whom they accuse of doing his bidding without consulting them.