The parliamentary opposition has the “knife between its teeth”

Tuesday 1^er February, 7.45 a.m. The sound of boots on the tiles and the clatter of keys break the silence that has weighed on the Parliament Building for nearly two months. Deputies and political advisers converge, behind their surgical masks and foggy glasses, towards the quarters of the opposition leaders. These meetings aim to determine the shooting targets in anticipation of the return of the Prime Minister, François Legault, under the spotlight of the Blue Room, after the “yoyo” of the sanitary measures of the holiday period, the change of guard at the head of the Direction de la santé publique and the announcement of the “health contribution” for unvaccinated people, among other things. The duty was able to peek behind closed doors.

8 a.m.

A half-dozen elected and non-elected sit on armchairs and chairs scattered in the office of the parliamentary leader of the Parti Québécois, Joël Arseneau, located on the third floor of the parliament. MP Martin Ouellet proposes to urge the Minister of Finance, Eric Girard, not to “simply” not introduce the bill which would introduce a financial penalty for people who are not vaccinated against COVID-19. “Let’s not waste our time. We don’t want to know anything,” he said, as if addressing the parliamentary press. “Yes, absolutely,” agrees the chef, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon. In his eyes, the idea of ​​​​establishing a “health contribution” launched by Mr. Legault on January 11 “is a balloon” aimed at making people forget the “mediocrity” in which the CAQ government has sunk.

The conversation is turning towards the third link project between Quebec and Lévis, the final cost of which could only be assessed with precision in 2025, three years after the start of the work, according to the Minister of Transport, François Bonnardel. Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon finds it hard to explain why “people don’t react more” to so much “ridiculousness”. “Did he manage his garage like that, Bonnardel? asks a political attaché, alluding to the professional past at Vitro-Plus, Sweetsburg Auto inc. and Minister’s Van-Quip Int’l.

The director of communications, Louis Lyonnais, raises other current issues on which elected PQ members risk being questioned. “Rambo in Quebec, that’s you who will take it,” he said, pointing to the elected North Shore in the room. Mr. Ouellet immediately opposes a refusal, specifying that the instigator of a convoy of opponents of sanitary measures “comes from Sept-Îles”, which is, he recalls, outside his riding. For Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon, the imminent arrival of protesters in Quebec is not unrelated to the refusal of the Legault government to present a “deconfinement plan” based on “objective criteria” known to all. “Just saying, ‘We’re going to take it easy,’ that’s not a plan. »

Later, “PSPP” quotes from memory a post by Marie-France Bazzo published in The Press at the end of December, in which the producer and host deplores that “the government manages the whole of the life of the population according to the number of beds available in hospitals”. “We are a few weeks ahead of that,” says press officer Laura Chouinard-Thuly. “We got there, I think,” retorts the PQ leader, before adding: “It’s coming. »

The PQ resume the overview of the issues on the political and media radar: the cancellation of government funding intended for the expansion of Dawson College, the confusion over the wearing of masks during sports activities, the showdown between the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, and family doctors… “Thank you very much! says Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon. Some close the lid of their computer, while others gather their notes. M^me Chouinard-Thuly looks at his phone, then exclaims: “Hey! They have just abandoned the health contribution. “Well, we start there by saying: “There are limits to fooling the world! shouts Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon.

8:55 a.m.

Liberal MP André Fortin enters the office of the leader of the official opposition to find Dominique Anglade and his advisers Jeremy Ghio and François White. All three elaborate the liberal reaction to the abandonment of the “health contribution” by François Legault. “Attempt at diversion”, “Attempt at division”, writes on a notepad the leader of the Liberal Party of Quebec. “They did it in a reckless way,” she continues. “I would go further than ‘thoughtless’. ‘Irresponsible’,” interrupts communications director Jeremy Ghio, who is equipped with a leather notebook. “Without public health support. Without legal advice,” added parliamentary leader André Fortin.

After laying down the lines of attack of the day on a row of small sheets, the Liberals name the areas on which journalists – or even the Prime Minister – could lead their leader: the virtual recruitment campaign of the PLQ for the election of the October 3, or his comments on the limits of the vaccination campaign. There is also “the”leaked” [fuite] this morning, ”continues Mr. Ghio, on the reopening of the gyms on February 14, after that of the spas, on February 7. “Yeah! exclaims M spontaneously^me Anglade, before getting up from his chair. “You have to exude positivism,” says Mr. Fortin. But not too much, argues Jeremy Ghio when the chef says she is “still happy[e] of the government’s about-face on the “health contribution”. “It protects the integrity of our universal system,” said the Liberal leader. “I agree, but I’m not ‘happy’. They made us silly for a month with their health tax bullshit…”, replies the adviser.

10 a.m.

M^me Anglade sits down again with her advisers to sharpen the first questions she will ask the Prime Minister in 2022. She searches for her notes, but in vain.

Eight months before the general election, Jeremy Ghio stresses that it is “important” to “camp the confrontation” between François Legault and her. François White invites him to end his first question with a “Are you done fooling us? felt good.

Then, without warning, Chief Whip Filomena Rotiroti burst into the room with a large bouquet of flowers. “It’s from your caucus, my dear leader. We love you very much”, she says, specifying that this demonstration of love was not organized with the help of the views guy so that it coincides with the visit of the Duty. ” Oh my God “says M.^me Anglade standing up, which allows one of his advisers to see his notes sticking out of his back pockets. “I don’t usually have pockets,” says the politician celebrating her 48^and birthday, before adding: “I gained a little weight, by the way. »

The Leader of the Official Opposition decides that she will question the Prime Minister about CAQ candidate Shirley Dorismond — according to whom a lack of equipment in the health network is responsible for the “mass deaths” that occurred after the arrival of la COVID-19 —, on the “absence” of a government plan for children to “stop freezing” in poorly ventilated classrooms across Quebec as well as on the abandonment of the health tax.

11 a.m.

“I’m going to make myself comfortable,” said Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois. The parliamentary leader of Québec solidaire takes off his jacket and rolls up his sleeves, then sits down in the middle of his office. He is surrounded by Manon Massé and political advisers Stéphanie Guévremont, Josée Larouche and Renaud Poirier St-Pierre.

Like the other two opposition leaders, he considers it “important” to resume the debates in the National Assembly in “parl[ant] of health”, even if the Prime Minister has given up on his plan to impose a pecuniary penalty on those who have not been vaccinated. “The impression a lot of people are going to have is, what’s going on? How is it that the Prime Minister tells us one thing and that in such a short time [ce soit] dead ? »

The brand image of a pragmatic man of François Legault takes for his cold, adds the aspiring Prime Minister. “Being pragmatic means putting your finger on the problem and finding solutions. In this case, just the opposite happened. He tossed a solution into the air. Then people started realizing that it wouldn’t solve the problem at all. And there, we are faced with a total mess, ”he argues.

To his left, Mr.^me Massé adds: “I don’t know if you want to go there, but while he was pointing at the unvaccinated, he was generating something. He must be responsible for his actions. »

Renaud Poirier St-Pierre invites the spokespersons not to increase the polarization between vaccinated and non-vaccinated, on which politicians are already making their bread and butter, otherwise “it will just bring more trucks in front of the Assembly”.

M^me Massé suggests taking advantage of the resumption of parliamentary work to urge the government to take seriously the rising cost of living, which is pushing more and more people to food banks. “Families have it hard, have it stiff,” said the QS co-spokesperson.

Mr. Poirier St-Pierre invites “GND” to, in doing so, clearly distinguish between the “vision of Quebec” of the Caquists, on the one hand, and that of the Solidarity, on the other hand. ” [Le premier ministre] has demonstrated that it is weak in housing. We have demonstrated that we are good at housing. It’s very simple, but when we ask questions on subjects where we are good and he is weak…” “It works”, completes M^me Massé, before proposing to also question the government on the “environment”.

“We are lucky this week. We have two questions a day,” remarks Mr.^me Guévremont.

2:15 p.m.

Dominique Anglade kicks off the question period. ” […] I have a question for the Prime Minister: is he done fooling us? “The leader of the official opposition had promised us to have the knife between the teeth, we see that it is true”, retorts François Legault.

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