(Quebec) The Minister of Labor, Jean Boulet, will now be responsible for the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region, which was until now represented by his colleague Mathieu Lacombe.
The office of Prime Minister François Legault announced this change to his council of ministers on Thursday morning.
Mr. Boulet, an elected official from Trois-Rivières, also retains his position as minister responsible for Mauricie and Nord-du-Québec.
He will be supported by the MP for Abitibi-Est, Pierre Dufour, who remains government assistant to the minister responsible for the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region. Mr. Dufour himself was already the minister responsible for this region, before being removed from office after the 2022 elections.
As for Mr. Lacombe, he remains Minister of Culture and Communications, as well as Minister responsible for the Outaouais region, where he is elected.
“I would first like to salute the work carried out by Mathieu Lacombe for the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region. He will be able to concentrate more on his other responsibilities, as he wished,” Mr. Legault said in a press release.
The Parti Québécois (PQ) criticized this change, calling on the government to appoint a minister from the region.
“I don’t know the reasons why Minister Lacombe is no longer minister responsible for Abitibi-Témiscamingue, it was not a good idea. But for the center of power to move from Gatineau to Trois-Rivières is no better,” said PQ MP Pascal Bérubé, recalling that the Coalition Avenir Québec has three elected officials in the region.