By winning 90 seats out of 125, including 41 women, to form his cabinet, François Legault was spoiled for choice. For the head of the CAQ, it’s a hell of a nice problem.
His Council of Ministers 2.0 is nevertheless part of the continuity, but without disdaining a certain desire for change.
On the continuity side, the Prime Minister is renewing his main pillars – Sonia LeBel at the Treasury, Christian Dubé at Health, Simon Jolin-Barrette at Justice, Eric Girard at Finance and Pierre Fitzgibbon, his now omni-Minister of the Economy, ‘Energy and great manitou of the Metropolis.
On the change side, Mr. Legault calls some of his ministers from the first term to new missions. Among them, the passage of Mathieu Lacombe from Family to Culture heralds a breath of fresh air.
Ditto for the passage of François Bonnardel from Transport to Public Security and for that, in the opposite direction, of Geneviève Guilbault.
On the change side, after a first term caught up in the pandemic, we also feel the beginning of a more soothing turn on the delicate front of its identity policies. Popular among Francophones, they are much less popular among minority communities.
Rebuild the bridges
Obviously, certain statements hurtful to them made during the campaign by Mr. Legault and his former Minister of Immigration order him to rebuild the bridges.
Always saying his government is “nationalist” and concerned about what he calls “national cohesion”, Mr. Legault however took the trouble yesterday to call for more “moderation” and “listening”.
He therefore removes the responsibility for the French language and secularism from Simon Jolin-Barrette. To his powerful Minister of Finance, he added Relations with English-speaking citizens.
He entrusts the fight against racism to Christopher Skeete of the English-Quebec community. Appointed to Immigration, the newly elected Christine Fréchette is known to have opposed the PQ charter of values.
Mr. Legault also retains Ian Lafrenière in Aboriginal Affairs and appoints Kateri Champagne Jourdain to Employment, the first Aboriginal woman elected to the National Assembly.
Political legacy
On the change side, newly elected Martine Biron is appointed to International Relations. A respected ex-journalist and emeritus communicator, she has all the talents to strengthen Québec’s presence abroad.
That said, beyond the undeniable importance of a possible recession, a worrying housing crisis and an uncertain fight against climate change, the most serious challenges remain the same.
In the continent’s most aging society, how do you fix a dysfunctional and dehumanized health system? By moving from minister delegate to minister responsible for social services, Lionel Carmant will also have plenty of work to do.
And how to strengthen an increasingly unequal public-private education network? As the new Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville will not be able to content himself with the status quo.
Everything is important, that’s for sure. For François Legault, however, it is in these two mega files, vital for Quebecers, from the youngest to the oldest, that his real political legacy will take shape or not.