The Legault government has nominated the former mayor of Longueuil Caroline St-Hilaire to serve as administrator of the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF).
Another candidacy, this one from the federal government, but whose name is not known, was also submitted to the secretary general of the OIF, Louise Mushikiwabo, according to a source quoted by the daily. The duty who first reported the news of Caroline St-Hilaire’s appointment on Tuesday.
“The Government of Quebec has been asked by the federal government to contribute to the process aimed at filling the position of administrator of the OIF. It is Ottawa that is responsible for submitting a list of candidates to the International Organization of La Francophonie,” said the office of the Quebec Minister of International Relations and La Francophonie, Martine Biron.
For her part, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada, Mélanie Joly, did not wish to comment on the candidates she intended to put forward to the OIF.
The need to appoint a new administrator, the second most important position within the OIF, is due to the departure in obscure circumstances of the previous representative of Canada, Geoffroi Montpetit, in office since March 2021, and whose contract does not has not been renewed.
Two controversial departures
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 successor, 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.
This second early departure led a source consulted by The Press that “the question arises as to whether the problem is really the administrator or the administrator”, a thinly veiled criticism of Louise Mushikiwabo’s management style.
As for Caroline St-Hilaire, her name had already been mentioned last fall for a position as Quebec delegate in Barcelona, a hypothesis revealed by The Journal of Quebec. However, this possibility had earned the government several criticisms from the opposition parties, who saw it as a partisan appointment.
Remember that 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.
With Melanie Marquis, The Press