The prime minister of all Quebecers?

In our political system, the Prime Minister is both the head of government and the leader of his party, a balance which is not always easy to maintain, but which is essential. Because he must be the premier of all Quebecers.

But this week, Premier François Legault’s partisan instincts took over and he presented himself as the Premier of the Coalition avenir Québec, and little more.

There was this unfortunate phrase, which was not picked up by the microphones in the Blue Room, but which everyone who was there heard: “It’s sure that he’s a Quebecer, he said of the President of the National Assembly. François Paradis is a caquiste! »

It would not be so serious if it had not crowned a week where Mr. Legault gave free rein to a completely inappropriate partisanship.

As of Tuesday, Mr. Legault gave a surprising explanation, to say the least, for the decision to cancel the Dawson College expansion project, which was nevertheless part of his government’s list of priorities, both in the Quebec Infrastructure Plan and in Law 66, on projects to be accelerated to help economic recovery.

The problem is not that the government has changed its mind. In a context where needs are numerous and resources limited, the government must make choices, and that is normal. The problem comes from the arguments he gave to justify himself.

“When we choose priorities, it is preferable to, first, proceed with the expansion of French-speaking CEGEPs,” he said Tuesday at a press conference. On Thursday, on the floor of the National Assembly, he added: “Is it better to expand French-speaking CEGEPs before expanding English-speaking CEGEPs? We at the CAQ think so, ”he said in response to a question from Liberal leader Dominique Anglade.

In short, the Prime Minister is saying that Anglophone establishments will take second place to Francophone expansion projects.

There’s a word to describe it, it’s called discrimination.

As Mr. Legault likes the definitions of Little Robert, we will refer to it. Discrimination is an “unequal and different treatment applied to certain people (in particular because of their origin…)”.

In this case, even though there are very well established standards for expansion projects and Dawson’s had been deemed compliant and approved by two governments, it will have to wait.

Nothing that had been decided holds anymore, only, it seems, because we are eight months away from the elections. Even if that means, de facto, establishing a different CEGEP management system depending on the language.

The political goal is transparent: to pass the CAQ for the party that defends the interests of Francophones and the Liberals for those who defend Anglophones.

As if that were not enough, the Prime Minister added a layer on the bilingualism of the judges of the Court of Quebec, the day after a judgment of the Superior Court on the bilingualism of judges. The Minister of Justice and Minister responsible for the French Language, Simon Jolin-Barrette, had decided that it was not necessary to appoint bilingual judges in the judicial district of Saint-Jérôme.

The Superior Court reminded him of the principle of the independence of the judiciary, that it is the Chief Justice of the Court of Quebec who is responsible for matters of internal management, not the Minister of Justice.

“The Quebec Liberal Party defends mandatory bilingual judges in Saint-Jérôme. We defend the French language, which is the only official language in Quebec,” said the Prime Minister during question period.

But the obligation to have bilingual judges comes neither from the Liberal Party nor from the Court of Quebec, it comes from section 133 of the Constitution. An article that also allows Francophones to be judged in their language across the country. Mr. Legault preferred to ignore it to score some political points.

The CAQ’s strategy is transparent: to disqualify the Liberal Party by portraying it as the “party of the English”, not to worry about the PQ, which we abandon as already dead, and to confront Québec solidaire as the only opposition, which will ensure a easy win.

But Mr. Legault’s divisive strategies have already backfired. We will remember that in the federal election, he could not contain his aggressiveness against Justin Trudeau by inviting Quebecers to vote for the Conservatives, but without result.

Playing divisive politics and pitting Quebecers against each other will inevitably end up backfiring on those who insist on employing such practices. And often much earlier than those who devise such strategies believe.