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Quote of the week
It’s distressing to see the Premier of Quebec share statements on immigration that are downright false. […] We are working, we have worked in fact, with the government of Quebec, on this issue that Mr. Legault seems to want to politicize at all costs. […] We would appreciate having a plan from Mr. Legault on how they were going to act to restrict the significant portion of temporary immigration that they directly control. However, it is September, I am still waiting for Mr. Legault’s plan on temporary immigration.
The Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, in response to François Legault who wants the fall of the Liberal government
Number of the week
710
This is the sum in millions of dollars of public funds committed so far to Northvolt, which is in financial difficulty (a loan of 240 million for the purchase of the land and equity interests in the parent company, 270 million Investissement Québec and 300 million from the Caisse de dépôt et placement). Another payment of 300 million would be added when the factory is built. In total, Quebec has promised 1.37 billion to finance the 7 billion battery cell mega-factory in Montérégie; Ottawa has committed to paying the same amount, but it has not paid a penny so far.
Poll of the week
Federal elections this fall? No thanks!
Since the start of Parliament on September 16, the Conservative Party has been trying to bring about the fall of the Trudeau government in the House of Commons by presenting motions of censure. So far, the Bloc Québécois and the New Democratic Party have refused to participate in this maneuver. But things are changing quickly in the federal capital, so that we can no longer rule out the scenario of a federal election this fall. What do Quebecers think? A majority of respondents to a SOM* survey carried out on behalf of The Press (56%) believe that the federal elections should not take place before the scheduled date, i.e. October 2025. Only 21% of Quebecers say they would like an electoral campaign this fall and an even smaller proportion (15%) prefer elections between the winter and summer 2025.
* Methodology: the study was carried out online from September 20 to 24, 2024 with a sample of 1,019 Quebec adults registered on the SOM panel of Internet users. The results were weighted to reflect the main sociodemographic characteristics of Quebec adults. The maximum margin of error is plus or minus 4.0 points, 19 times out of 20.
Leprechauns, poodles and the shallot race
Les élus ont multiplié les projections cauchemardesques lors du débat sur la motion de censure conservatrice, mardi. Tandis que le chef conservateur Pierre Poilievre prédisait un « hiver nucléaire » en cas de survie des libéraux, que ceux-ci brandissaient le spectre d’un « programme caché » au Parti conservateur et que les néo-démocrates évoquaient le souvenir « des années sombres de Stephen Harper », le Bloc québécois optait pour un ton plus ludique. La motion de censure ? « Les conservateurs disent que c’est la plus belle invention depuis les bottes en feutre qu’on a mises aux pieds des lutins. » L’envie d’élections ? « Nous pourrions être excités comme des caniches qui attendent de la visite. » La raison du refus du Bloc d’appuyer cette première motion de censure de la rentrée ? « Cela ne donne rien de partir à la course à l’échalote, puisque nous sommes dans une situation où nous aurons d’autres chances. » Tout cela, gracieuseté du leader parlementaire bloquiste en Chambre, Alain Therrien.
La faute aux médias
La couverture des médias sur les déboires de Northvolt, « ça ne donne pas beaucoup de chance au coureur », déplore le député caquiste Louis Lemieux. Lors d’un débat en Chambre mercredi, cet ancien journaliste a fait une sortie pour critiquer les médias. « Nos médias, je suis le premier à le déplorer, ils ont plus d’opinions que de faits ces temps-ci », a-t-il soutenu. « Je vois plus dans les journaux et dans les médias télévisés chez nous de chroniques que de journalisme », a ajouté M. Lemieux. Il a été applaudi par plusieurs de ses collègues présents. « Et à mon corps défendant et à ma grande tristesse, après 37 ans de métier… mais quand j’écoute, je lis, je regarde, je vois, j’entends énormément d’opinions, de chroniques, et rien de mal avec ça, [mais] when there’s more of that than facts and journalism, I have trouble keeping up. » Liberal Marwah Rizqy replied that her CAQ opponent had made a “slip”. “Their work [des médias d’information] is to ensure that we tell the truth. And journalists who become columnists do not lose their sense of work ethics. »
When Legault misses Bachand
PHOTO DAVID BOILY, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Raymond Bachand, in 2018
Hot on the heels of the Liberals in the Northvolt issue, Prime Minister François Legault used comments from former Liberal minister Raymond Bachand to justify his bet in this Swedish company and attack his adversaries. In an interview with RDI, Mr. Bachand stressed the importance of “taking our place” in “a major new sector for the next 30-40 years” and maintained that “there is nothing worse in a project economic development than partisan politics. “It’s not just me who says we have to do it, Raymond Bachand” too. “I miss Raymond Bachand! », Launched François Legault Thursday in the House. The time when Mr. Legault denounced Mr. Bachand’s economic strategy and bombarded him with questions about doubtful cases of investment by FIER, the Regional Economic Intervention Funds… And let us remember that when we arrived in power, Mr. Legault terminated Raymond Bachand’s contract as advisor to the Quebec government in negotiations on free trade…
A bit of Taylor Swift in Quebec
La reine incontestée de la pop s’est invitée à l’Assemblée nationale, mais pas nécessairement pour les bonnes raisons. Dans un échange corsé sur la subvention de 6,5 millions offerte par le gouvernement caquiste pour attirer le golf professionnel de la PGA, Vincent Marissal a accusé Caroline Proulx d’être atteinte du « syndrome Taylor Swift », c’est-à-dire que la ministre du Tourisme anticipe des retombées phénoménales pour la tenue au Québec de la Coupe des Présidents. Pour justifier sa subvention, Québec a évoqué des dépenses de 73 millions générées par l’évènement et une audience internationale de 1 milliard de personnes à la télé. « En tout respect, là […] everything is exaggeratedly amplified,” lamented the solidarity worker. It’s well known that the American singer shatters records wherever she goes. His tour Eras could generate US$4.6 billion in benefits in North America. The solidarity declaration was also a point at the minister who dreams of welcoming Taylor Swift to the Olympic Stadium… once its roof has been renovated.
“No time to go to the hospital”
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
The Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, surrounded by the media on Parliament Hill, in October 2023
The job of a cameraman is sometimes dangerous! In the corridors of the National Assembly, cameramen must follow ministers closely to capture their image, even if they sometimes refuse to stop. It happened this week, when a cameraman almost fell while Christian Dubé was walking decisively towards the Council of Ministers meeting. “It’s not time to go to the hospital,” said the Minister of Health spontaneously, inquiring about the man’s condition. However, his reaction came on the same day when emergency waiting times were in the news… In some hospitals, you have to wait 10 hours in the emergency room to see a doctor, while the average length of stay on a stretcher reaches 17 hours 46 minutes.
Geneviève Guilbault denies rumors
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
The Deputy Prime Minister of Quebec, Geneviève Guilbault
Minister Geneviève Guilbault spoke to journalists this week to deny rumors that she is considering a jump onto the federal scene with Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives. The name of the Deputy Prime Minister of Quebec, like that of the Minister of Finance, Eric Girard, circulates from time to time behind the scenes for possible Conservative candidacies. However, this week, CHOI Radiome Guilbault was negotiating a ministerial post in a future Poilievre government, which stung the main person concerned. “This is absolutely false! I am told that radio stations in Quebec, CHOI not to name them, claim that I am looking for a job as a minister with the Conservatives and that Mr. Poilievre would have told me no, that could not be more false! I have always closed the door, my children are too young for me to go to the federal government, I will not go to the federal government in the next federal elections with any party, so the people who invented this rumor will have to find one. other, but considering the history over the past six years, I’m not worried about them! », unchecked Mme Guilbault. That’s what it says!