When businessman Christian Yaccarini requested a meeting with officials from the Montreal International economic promotion agency in 2014, he thought he would only talk to the organization’s president and CEO, Dominique Anglade. He had not expected that alongside the future Minister of the Economy and Liberal leader of the Couillard government would also sit the director of external and institutional relations for the organization. Her name ? Christine Frechette.
“Me, I was going to see M.me England. And, whoops ! Quickly, I saw that I had two in front of me”, recalls the president and chief executive officer of the Société de développement Angus (SDA).
Mr. Yaccarini remembers having “flashed” on Mme Frechette that day. “I really liked his analyses. She releases something, Christine. So much so that he forgot that he had two interlocutors in front of him.
“I will tell you the truth. I don’t want to attack Dominique Anglade, but after ten minutes, I was talking to Mme Fréchette, I no longer spoke with Dominique Anglade, ”he says.
In recent weeks, The duty spoke with several relatives of the current Minister of Immigration, Francisation and Integration (MIFI) to get to know her better, she who is on her first steps in an elected position. We kept hearing how the CAQ MP for Sanguinet was “pugnacious”, able to obtain the results she is looking for, but without making noise.
As proof, upon his arrival at the National Assembly in 2022, Mr.me Fréchette hadn’t cut corners: the ministry I want is Immigration, she had told the Prime Minister. A few weeks later, the rookie from the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) was sworn in to this position.
Model student
A long-time friend, Atïm Léon, current chief of staff to the Minister of Culture, can boast of having been recruited by Christine Fréchette 30 years ago, when she was in the student movement, at the University Student Federation of Quebec. “Christine and [les] others [se sont mis] to build the political identity of this movement, which is very focused on the argument,” he says. According to him, this time “deeply marked” his friend who became a minister. “It structured his relationship to politics. »
Already, she stood out for her spirit of synthesis, her ability to popularize and her intelligence, told us several of her comrades in the student struggle. “I am studious, very studious, agrees the main interested party. I like that, to master my files, to know the bottom of things. At school, I studied a lot. I got the medal [scolaire] of the Governor General in 5e secondary. »
“Brilliant”, launches Diane Lemieux to describe the one she first met on the board of directors of the Conseil du statut de la femme (CSF), at the end of the 1990s. “She is composed, rigorous, organized” , she says.
“Moving from idea to action”
During her time at Montréal International, from 2014 to 2016, Christine Fréchette posted the following words next to her office door: “Moving from an idea to action”. The maxim seems, even today, to guide his steps.
During the election campaign, the CAQ defended tooth and nail the idea of welcoming a maximum of 50,000 permanent immigrants per year, a threshold that it would be “suicidal” to exceed, said the head of the CAQ, François Legault. Then, last May, the government opened the door to raising the threshold to 60,000 newcomers, provided that economic immigrants master the French language. This change of direction largely bears the mark of Christine Fréchette.
Diane Lemieux admits to having been “impressed” by this turnaround. The minister “had to unravel and re-knit en masse,” believes the current CEO of the Commission de la construction du Québec. “She is persistent and she knows how to sneak around and work underground to get where she is convinced she has to get to. »
Christine Fréchette simply believes that she has found a good compromise. “Me, I saw that, if we welcomed people who speak French for economic immigration, we might have the possibility of widening the pie,” explains the minister.
Vice-president of the National public relations firm, André Bouthillier rubbed shoulders with Mr.me Fréchette in the PQ government of Pauline Marois. According to him, it is not in the habits of the minister to deviate from the path traced by the boss. “She is able to stay on the highway and not go on the country lane. »
In February, M.me Fréchette had derided a Parti Québécois (PQ) motion asking the federal government to “close” Roxham Road, on the border between Quebec and the United States. “If it is closed, it will simply recreate another a few kilometers away,” she said. A few hours later, after being contradicted by Prime Minister François Legault, she retracted: “Roxham, it has to close. »
“Woman of Principles”
The Minister of Immigration is sincere. With her, there is no bullshit », maintains Atïm Léon. “He is not someone who is there to sell a salad and who accepts a mandate that does not correspond to him,” he notes.
Christine Fréchette has always been a woman of “principles”, says Christian Yaccarini. His departure from the PQ in 2014 is a clear example of this, he said.
At the time, Mr.me Fréchette held the position of assistant director of the cabinet of the Minister of International Relations and La Francophonie, Jean-François Lisée. The debate on the charter of values of the minister responsible for democratic institutions, Bernard Drainville, was in full swing. And the government’s position aroused deep unease in the future CAQ MP.
Unable to defend the charter of the PQ, Mme Fréchette had slammed the door of the Marois government in March 2014, a few days before the election campaign began. “I felt that I was not in the same orientations,” she says today. “I thought it was way too wide. “I was comfortable with the Bouchard-Taylor report,” she explains.
The duty tried to speak with Jean-François Lisée to learn more about his collaboration with Mme Fréchette and on the departure of the PQ from it. The former minister and former PQ leader did not want to comment. Mme Fréchette also refused to expand on the subject.
The minister says she discussed the charter “very briefly” with Bernard Drainville, who now sits with her at the Cabinet table. Nothing more. She specifies in passing that she fully supports the law on the secularism of the state bearing the signature of Simon Jolin-Barrette. “It’s Bouchard-Taylor plus the teachers. Alright, I’m comfortable! »
Progressive at heart
When asked to name the values that drive her, Mme Fréchette unhesitatingly mentions “progressivism”. A value that is “not contradictory” to the CAQ, supports the former political adviser to the cabinet of Prime Minister Legault, Pascal Mailhot. It was he, in large part, who convinced Christine Fréchette to wear the powder blue colors of François Legault’s team.
” [Le progressisme]it is not a label that we use a lot at the CAQ, but we can name many social policies put in place by the CAQ that can be qualified as progressive […] It’s not a word that is put in the lexicon,” he says.
If Christine Fréchette accepted the offer of her party, it is because it is a coalition, she underlines. “I don’t feel left out,” she says.
A great friend of Christine Fréchette, Nadine Raymond was not surprised to see the minister set her sights on the CAQ. “When she announced to me that she was launching, we had an exchange on her integrity as a person. Then, if there’s anyone who lives with integrity, it’s Christine,” says the President and CEO of the Women’s Y of Montreal.
Something new at MIFI
The arrival of Christine Fréchette at the MIFI “humanizes statistics”, rejoices Christian Yaccarini, son of an immigrant. Last month, the minister announced major reforms to permanent immigration programs. ” Somewhere, [parmi] the measures she proposed in May, there were clearly some that contrasted with what had been announced [en campagne] “, continues Nadine Raymond.
The chief of staff of M.me Fréchette, Pierre-Yves Boivin, agrees that there has been a change of direction at MIFI after the arrival of his new boss. “I wouldn’t think we’re in rehabilitation, but we quickly chose to be in touch with the community, precisely so that there wouldn’t be a perception that things weren’t going well, that we wanted to hide “, he launches.
As soon as she was in office, the minister, who spoke four languages—French, English, Spanish, Portuguese—made a point of meeting with organizations helping immigrants in all regions of Quebec. The director of the Round Table of Organizations Serving Refugees and Immigrants (TCRI), Stephan Reichhold, says he has discovered a minister who is very “listening” and “without jargon”, who “masters her files well” . “His office is very easy to reach and very enlightened. Officials seem to respect her a lot,” he says.
Predestined?
Despite her “charming personality,” Christine Fréchette remains naturally reserved, mentions Diane Lemieux. “It’s not the chopsticks in the air style. »
“Christine is someone who is socially very happy”, underlines however Atïm Léon. “She really likes music and dancing. “Beatles type? “More like Madonna,” he replies with a smile in his voice.
The Minister of Immigration is not the archetype of the politician who will shake hands with everyone at a spaghetti dinner by calling people by their first name, recognizes Mr. Léon. Going door to door didn’t quite come naturally to her.
However, it remained “obvious” that she would eventually try politics, says Christian Yaccarini.
Pierre-Yves Boivin is also one of the convinced. In 2009, during a conversation with Mme Fréchette, he had made a disarmingly accurate prognosis. “I said that I would be honored to be her chief of staff if she were elected one day or if she entered Quebec politics,” says the man who finally obtained this position 13 years later. “Life has done things well. »