The candidacy of the former mayor of Longueuil, Caroline St-Hilaire, was selected by the Secretary General of the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF), Louise Mushikiwabo, for the position of administrator of the international organization.
This choice must now be ratified by the Permanent Council of the Francophonie (CPF), over the next few hours, said Sunday, the office of the Quebec Minister of International Relations and Francophonie, Martine Biron.
“This is excellent news for Quebec on the eve of International Francophonie Day. Let’s remember that Quebec is a full member of the OIF,” rejoiced the latter through the voice of her press officer.
Recall that the Legault government had recently proposed the candidacy of Caroline St-Hilaire to occupy the functions of administrator of the OIF, the second position in importance of the organization.
Double start
The need to appoint a new person to these functions is due to the departure in obscure circumstances of the previous representative of Canada, Geoffroi Montpetit, in office since March 2021, and whose contract has not been renewed.
The position of administrator of the OIF is reserved for Canada for the duration of the mandate of the secretary general, Louise Mushikiwabo, which was renewed for another cycle of four years last November at the summit in Djerba, Tunisia.
The appointment of Mr. Montpetit itself stemmed from the hasty departure of his predecessor, Catherine Cano, a former executive in the media sector. Appointed in 2019, the latter had suddenly resigned, about a year and a half later, causing a commotion in Quebec and Canadian diplomatic circles.
A candidacy criticized
This time, another candidacy than that of Caroline St-Hilaire had also been submitted by the federal government, but we still do not know her identity.
The opposition parties in Quebec had also denounced this choice of the Legault government perceived as a “second attempt” to appoint the former CAQ candidate to high office.
Indeed, the name of the former mayor had already been mentioned last fall for a position as Quebec delegate in Barcelona, a hypothesis revealed by The Journal of Quebec.
Caroline St-Hilaire wore the colors of the Coalition avenir Québec during the last elections in the riding of Sherbrooke. In the end, she had not been elected.