The blue of the next CAQ government will fade a little.
Posted at 6:00 a.m.
The electoral platform suggested it, and the composition of the Council of Ministers confirmed it: nationalism will occupy less space.
François Legault’s close guard is cemented with Eric Girard (Finance), Pierre Fitzgibbon (Economy, Innovation, Energy) and Sonia LeBel (Treasury). All people we could have seen in the Liberal Party in another era. With a former press officer from the Charest government confirmed in her role as Deputy Prime Minister, Geneviève Guilbault, and Christian Dubé who remains the man of confidence in Health.
In the dark blue camp, Simon Jolin-Barrette (Justice), dad for the second time, was discharged from the language file. He will be busy elsewhere, with his reform of family law and the management of parliamentary work. Bernard Drainville will have his hands full at Education, where his mandate is more about patching up the network than implementing a major project. Other notable nationalist voices in the Council of Ministers will be Jean-François Roberge (Intergovernmental Affairs), André Lamontagne (Agriculture) and, to a lesser extent, Mathieu Lacombe (Culture).
Certainly, they will be able to participate in all the discussions. But to offer what?
Most of the nationalist camps are behind the CAQ.
During his first mandate, Mr. Legault had spent a lot of energy on the reform of Bill 101, the State Secularism Actthe unnecessary values test and the temporary lowering of immigration thresholds — a year-long reduction that will have changed little, other than complicating the already planned transition to the new application processing system.
Those who know Mr. Legault wondered if all this really interested him. After all, he spoke little about it when he returned to politics in 2011. He had even prevented the Marois government from strengthening the protection of French.
Even if the disturbing new data on the weakening of French undoubtedly motivated him, there is more. He also wanted to “give a little to the majority”. And opposition from the federal government and the Canadian intelligentsia influenced him. It has become a question of autonomy. He seemed less passionate about the debate on secularism than on the right for Quebec to choose its own model.
And in culture, he raised the budget and launched his Blue Spaces project, a heritage, artistic and museum project that arouses the mistrust of some museologists.
In the eyes of Mr. Legault, the identity files are mostly checked. He can move on to his real priorities: the economy and education.
This is where his nationalism is expressed. Basically, the theme is reflected less in his actions than in what motivates them. As a proud Quebecer, he refuses our economic backwardness compared to Ontario and our deficiencies in education. This is what interests him above all.
In November 2015, Mr. Legault presented his New Project for Nationalists. His list of requests was long…
The vast majority met with Ottawa’s refusal. But Mr. Legault does not tolerate ambiguity well. In reaction to the dead end of independence, he left the Parti Québécois. And I can’t see him spending the next few years running up against the same federal wall.
Everything indicates that Quebec will not manage the federal budgets that concern it in culture, nor obtain a transfer of tax points, a single tax return or control of port infrastructures and the Building Canada Fund on its territory.
The “full and complete” recognition of the nation in the Constitution also remains blocked, as does the demand for the right of veto and the reform of the Senate.
The CAQ document also spoke of increasing health transfers and promoting free trade between the provinces. But these are consensual priorities shared by the PLQ.
We hear little about Mr. Jolin-Barrette’s plan to adopt a Quebec constitution. It still exists, but it doesn’t seem to be a priority — it wasn’t mentioned during the election campaign.
It’s hard to predict the pugnacity of the new Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Mr. Roberge. But when he complains about Ottawa’s lack of funding, the Trudeau government can remind him that Quebec is not even spending all the available federal funds on infrastructure…
There remains only one active nationalist fight for the CAQ: the control of a small category of immigration, that of family reunifications. The federal government opposes it because the effect on French would be modest, but the human shock would be painful.
This useless confrontation obscures two really important issues.
The first is to make better use of the current powers in temporary immigration. Currently, Ottawa refuses French-speaking African candidates who want to go to the regions much, much more than English-speakers who enroll at McGill and Concordia. It should be the opposite, and Quebec should fight for it.
The second is francization. And on that, Quebec already has all the powers required. This removes any excuse for the CAQ to repeat the failure of its predecessors.
And we could add the return of the boomerang of language and religious signs. The courts could strike down parts of these laws. The identity debate would be revived, and Mr. Legault will still want to “give a little” to the French-speaking majority. Especially if it bothers the liberals…