The minister responsible for the National Capital, Jonatan Julien, recently had lunch with Sam Hamad, Bruno Marchand’s expected opponent for mayor of Quebec City. A “friendly” and “informal” meeting, insists the Charlesbourg MNA, where the two men “talked about a lot of things,” but “certainly not about [l’]”political future” of the former Liberal minister.
This meeting, which took place at the Le Cochon Dingue restaurant in Lebourgneuf, was first reported by The Sunwas nothing more than a reunion between friends, according to Jonatan Julien. “I’ve known Sam for 11 years,” the minister said Wednesday. “This is not the first lunch I’ve had with [lui]. »
Before becoming a member of parliament, Jonatan Julien sat on the municipal council as Régis Labeaume’s right-hand man from 2013 to 2019. Sam Hamad was Minister of the National Capital Region from 2014 to 2016.
The Charlesbourg MP certifies that the discussions during this lunch did not concern the persistent rumours that Sam Hamad, who held the seat currently occupied by Jonatan Julien as minister responsible for the Capitale-Nationale for nearly eight years, is entering the municipal arena.
“It was a friendly, informal lunch. We didn’t hide it. We talked about a lot of things,” the minister assures, “and certainly not about his political future. It was a breakfast and, honestly, we ate well.”
Sam Hamad is keeping his municipal ambitions in Quebec City vague as best he can. For nearly a year, rumor has been sending him into the race to unseat Bruno Marchand in the next election; he still says, publicly at least, that he is thinking about it — but his speech, in private, tends to confirm his leap into the arena.
Minister Jonatan Julien met with Sam Hamad on September 6, his office confirmed, just before going to join Mayor Bruno Marchand for the inauguration, at 9:30 a.m., of the L’Albédo residence in Sainte-Foy.
The latter assures that the meeting between Jonatan Julien and the man who still unofficially covets his position at the Quebec City mayor’s office leaves him indifferent. “What difference does it make to me?” he said on the airwaves of First hourRadio-Canada’s morning show in the capital. Let the minister have lunch with whoever he wants…”
The office of the mayor of Quebec assures that the minister and Bruno Marchand “have very frequent working meetings” to discuss issues in the capital.
“Nothing trivial”
Jonatan Julien may have minimized the importance of his lunch with Sam Hamad, but a meeting between a minister responsible for the National Capital and a prospective candidate for mayor of Quebec City “is not insignificant,” according to Thierry Giasson, professor of politics at Université Laval.
“If there is a potential mayoral candidate who wants to meet with you and you are the minister responsible for the National Capital and the minister of infrastructure, regardless of the relationship you have with that person, it might be a good idea to mark out the meetings, to make sure that it is known, that it is public, that it takes place in an official context, believes the professor. Especially when you have friendly ties with the person, I think it is all the more important to act with complete transparency to avoid suspicion.”
In his opinion, it is normal that the meeting raises questions. “We have been talking about Sam Hamad for almost a year. We know that Sam Hamad meets people, that he talks with all sorts of people. He is someone, at the moment, who is cultivating [ses appuis]…so much so that he has to be careful not to become a running gag à la Denis Coderre who hesitated and left some doubt hanging over his intentions to run for the leadership of the Liberal Party.
The lunch between Sam Hamad and Minister Julien, which was private, does not appear on the minister’s agenda. The former Liberal elected official was listed in the lobbyist registry between 2020 and 2022, but his term ended on March 1er January 2023.