Prime Minister François Legault outlines his legislative program: deployment of the “anti-inflation shield”, expansion of medical aid in dying, increase in water royalties, reform of family law… Question marks remain, however. many in the ranks of the opposition parties, on the eve of the first swearing-in of the newly elected deputies.
First, the Liberal leader, Dominique Anglade, has not yet wanted to commit to recognizing Québec solidaire (QS) and the Parti québécois (PQ) as parliamentary groups. This means that the government could find itself facing an official opposition made up of 21 Liberal MPs on the one hand, and 14 independent MPs on the other. A real “brothel”, denounced QS co-spokesperson, Manon Massé, last week.
This show of force on the part of Mr.me Anglade is not surprising, observes Mireille Lalancette, professor of political communication at the University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières. However, “we are no longer in the bipartisanship”, she underlines, and we must adapt to the presence of several parties.
From the outset, the position of the Liberal leader will be difficult to defend, according to Luc Ouellet, partner at the National public relations firm. “We set a precedent in 2018 [en donnant au PQ et à QS le statut de groupes d’opposition]. How to justify that we would not do the same thing this time? ” he asks.
Another unknown: the fate of the Conservative Party of Quebec. The formation, which collected 13% of the votes on October 3, claims an office, a budget and the possibility of holding press briefings inside the Parliament building. Requests that it would be inappropriate to reject out of hand, according to Mme Lalancette. “There are people who want to be heard. If we don’t listen to them, they will want to be heard elsewhere. »
President of the National Assembly
If the rumor that Nathalie Roy is leaving her seat at the Ministry of Culture for the presidency of the National Assembly is confirmed, her first weeks will be busy to say the least. Indeed, the Prime Minister clearly indicated, the day after the election, that he was going to “work on parliamentary reform” with the aim of “improving the role of each of the 125 deputies” who will be sworn in throughout the week. .
The overall portrait of the National Assembly will change very little, however, since out of 125 elected members, only 41 are newcomers.
The 21 Liberal Party MPs will kick off the ball on Tuesday morning, followed by the 90 Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) MPs on Tuesday afternoon, the 11 QS MPs on Wednesday afternoon, then the three PQ MPs on Friday before- midday. Many eyes will then be turned to the PQ leader, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, who flatly refuses to take the oath to the king. What will happen next?
Rates and economic update
The long-awaited unveiling of the Council of Ministers is scheduled for Thursday. Once the government is formed, the Prime Minister will have to get down to writing his inaugural speech, a kind of trailer for the next four years. On October 4, he had indicated that his priorities would be education, the development of the green economy, the reduction of greenhouse gases, the recovery of the health system and the promotion of French.
On the legislative level, François Legault has already indicated that the first bill would “put a ceiling on the increase in government tariffs”. This bill will be followed, later this fall, by a “mini-budget” which will notably set out the details of the amounts of $400 and $600 that will be paid by the end of the year to help Quebeckers earning less $100,000 to deal with inflation.
Assisted in dying, family law
The CAQ intends to favor three bills that died on the order paper at the end of the last legislature: the one on the expansion of medical assistance in dying, the one on the increase in water royalties and the one on the reform of the of the family.
All parties have already agreed on the need to expand access to assisted dying for people suffering from a neurodegenerative disease. Advance requests would also be accepted for all incurable diseases. But elected officials ran out of time in the spring to study Bill 38, which Minister Christian Dubé has pledged to put back on the agenda as soon as possible after the elections.
For his part, the Minister of the Environment has opened the door to an increase in the taxes currently imposed on bottling companies that take water from Quebec soil. His intention to act was written into a bill, which also died on the order paper.
Finally, in the spring, Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette promised to legislate on the use of surrogate mothers after the elections. This portion of the family law reform had to be set aside before the work was completed.
Voting system, labor shortage and climate
But the elected representatives of the opposition will certainly want to talk about something else during question period, in particular a possible reform of the voting system, which, according to a poll published Thursday, is favored by 53% of Quebecers.
Another subject that could rebound in Parliament: the labor shortage. The Liberals also intend to “hound the government” so that it keeps its promises of financial assistance to the population, underlines the new parliamentary leader of the official opposition, Marc Tanguay.
The official opposition also intends to highlight the problems related to the health system that have been exacerbated by the pandemic. “In the coming weeks, the government must tangibly reduce the surgery waiting list, which is completely unacceptable,” said Mr. Tanguay. “The CAQ bulletin on the management of the pandemic was good, but there, we will see him managing a government”, notes Luc Ouellet, from National. François Legault will be hounded by oppositions more determined than ever to win, he adds. “It’s going to be tense. »
However, arrogance and partisanship do not please voters, especially the youngest, underlines Mireille Lalancette. “The attacks, the chicanery, they don’t like that. On the contrary, the population has an appetite for transpartisan initiatives, such as the work carried out on medical assistance in dying.
The day after the elections, François Legault had also reached out to his opponents. Claiming that the election campaigns “divided” the population, he said he wanted to hold individual meetings with the other leaders to discuss. “With Dominique Anglade, I would like to work on the economy,” he said. With Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, I would like to work on the environment. And so on… But be careful, Mr. Nadeau-Dubois pointed out, any gesture that harms the fight against climate change will be the subject of unfriendly exchanges.
With Alexandre Robillard, Florence Morin-Martel and Marco Bélair-Cirino