SHERBROOKE | The abandonment of the flagship promise of the 3e road link did not prevent François Legault from garnering a stratospheric level of support of 98.61% from his members, following a vote of confidence.
With such a result, the CAQ leader beat the mark of 97.2% he had obtained in November 2014. This is a slightly higher score than the PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon received during of its very first vote of confidence, last March.
“My mother will be proud of me, […] it touches me, ”he reacted while giving the closing speech of the national convention of the Coalition Avenir Québec, immediately after the unveiling of the result.
Dominick Ménard/QMI Agency
Recalling that governing sometimes involves making “difficult decisions”, the Prime Minister said that it is “a pat on the back” which “does him good”.
He later denied leading the one-man party, in light of the outcome. “I think it’s a vote of confidence also in the team that I have assembled. […] It’s really like a dream team, ”argued François Legault.
“I didn’t think I would have a score like that, quite honestly, I was surprised,” he confessed, repeating that he takes nothing for granted.
“I’m not thinking about the next generation,” said Mr. Legault, when asked about his political future.
His decision, in view of the 2026 elections, will be based on two conditions: “to feel the support of the population and to be in good health”, he specified.
“What will it be like in 2026? Well, we will have the opportunity to talk about it, ”he said.
Controversial
The CAQ’s national convention, which took place in Sherbrooke, was also marked by the controversy surrounding the appointment, by the Minister of Justice, of a friend as judge of the Court of Quebec (see other text).
As for the abandonment of the road component of the tunnel project between Quebec and Lévis, “I did not persist in defending the indefensible”, underlined Mr. Legault, during a press briefing at the end of his congress.
As several of his ministers have mentioned to journalists, no activist has come to François Legault to express his disappointment.
“I will admit that the activists who spoke to me about it were to tell me that they agreed with my decision,” said the CAQ leader.
Arrows for the PQ
The CAQ leader also continued to shoot arrows in the direction of the Parti Québécois, as he did when he arrived in Sherbrooke on Friday.
“The PQ is betting everything on the Grand Soir de la Souveraineté, then it’s legitimate, except that we have to act now,” said Mr. Legault, after asserting that Quebecers only have the CAQ and the PQ on who to count to defend the secularism of the state and counter the decline of the French language.
“There is an urgent need to act,” said the Prime Minister. But “to act now, you have to be in government,” he observed. And to be in government, you have to bring together enough people, enough nationalists, ”he observed, suggesting that this is not the case for the PQ, which is on the rise in voting intentions.
François Legault, who wanted to repatriate Ottawa’s powers in immigration to Quebec to avoid the “Louisianization” of Quebec, now considers that “we must first use the powers we have” to act.
“We are not going to wait,” he declared, in front of his activists.
Mr. Legault recalled that the Minister of Immigration, Christine Fréchette, will table “in the coming weeks”, new rules to require knowledge of French to economic immigrants. It will be a “first” in the history of Quebec, underlined the chief caquiste.
Energy sobriety
In front of his activists, François Legault undertook to launch “a major energy efficiency project”, which will involve, among other things, a new dynamic pricing program, which allows for example to save when you program the use of his dishwasher outside of peak hours.
On this subject, the Super-Minister of Energy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, reiterated his intention to arrive, in the fall, with legislative amendments for both businesses and consumers.
Projects for the construction of new power transmission lines will also be in the cards, underlined Mr. Legault, recalling that the electricity surpluses for the next 20 years which were until very recently envisaged are no longer there. .
“We’re going to need a lot more electricity, so I’m not ruling anything out. We are talking about wind power, improving certain dams or creating new ones,” said Mr. Legault.