About twenty Cquistes deputies organized a meeting in June in the absence of their leader to discuss the future of their party, who greatly needed to “re -enlive themselves” and must “make changes”, of the confession of the Prime Minister, François Legault.
The holding of this meeting, revealed by the 98.5, was confirmed Thursday by a handful of deputies from the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), summoned to the National Assembly for a caucus which must last the whole day.
The deputies Geneviève Hébert, Yves Montigny, Mario Asselin, Sylvain Lévesque and Mathieu Rivest declared to journalists that they had gathered at Lac Delage on June 29 and 30. “It was a friendly meeting between colleagues,” said Mr.me Hébert, who represents the district of Saint-François, in Estrie. “We had meetings, we jased,” she added.
In front of the media Thursday, the chief Whip of the government, Mario Laframboise, said that he himself had suggested organizing this meeting. The 98.5 rather reported that the meeting was the initiative of the deputy of Rousseau, Louis-Charles Thouin. A total of 22 deputies would have participated.
The Prime Minister’s office said Thursday that it was notified of holding this activity, without however being invited. He added that the objective of the meeting was, for the deputies, to find proposals to formulate their leader.
The deputies Sylvain Lévesque and Mario Asselin, elected in the districts of Quebec that are Chauveau and Vanier-les Rivières, reported discussions that led to proposals they intend to present to the Caucus. None of the participants wanted to give details on the nature of the exchanges.
Need to “re -light” “be frank”
The Prime Minister summoned the 86 elected officials from his team to Caucus on Thursday. In the middle of summer, he declared the holding of a special meeting to have a frank discussion on the difficulties of his party. The CAQ notably escaped Monday evening the fortified castle of Arthabaska-L’Arable, where the voters massively supported the Parti Québécois.
“We made good shots, but at the same time, we must realize that there are frustrations. There are people who are disappointed and we have the duty to make changes, “said Legault tells parliamentarians gathered before him in the restaurant the parliamentarian of the National Assembly. He promised to deliver them, once the journalists left, a summary of the long council of ministers held the day before. For more than five hours, members of the Executive Council discussed the means to relaunch the CAQ on Wednesday.
Mr. Legault also said that his deputies will bring him the complaints expressed by voters during the summer, without putting white gloves.
“I know you have returned to your counties. We are 86, we are [dans] The 17 regions of Quebec. I know you know your world, I know you have listened to your world this summer so I want you to tell me what you heard, “he asked them. “We have a beautiful family, we have together to make certain corrections and I want you to be frank, that you say exactly what you heard. We need to re -light. »»
Critics and disappointments
Before him, almost all elected officials had moved to this exceptional meeting. The Minister responsible for Relations with First Nations and Inuit, Ian Lafrenière, had the authorization to be absent for a vacation.
His colleague at Transport, Geneviève Guilbault, lacked the first minutes of the Caucus because of a delay. The public security holder, François Bonnardel, was unable to participate in the meeting due to holidays abroad. In a related file, these last two ministers were summoned next week to testify to the Gallant Commission, responsible for shedding light on the digital transition from the Quebec Automobile Insurance Company (SAAQ).
Saaqclic’s file was qualified on Monday as “saga” by the Prime Minister. He judges that this adventure hurt his government, like the financial debacle of Northvolt, named after the Swedish manufacturer of batteries which must open a factory in Montérégie. “There are criticisms, disappointments. We often talk about it, [de] Northvolt, despite the battery with us, ”said Caquist deputy Donald Martel on Thursday. Elected in Nicolet-Bécancour, where he saw an industrial park grow, he is sorry for the negative attention paid to the battery sector. “We’re going to correct the shot,” he promised on Thursday. He added that he had “no doubt” as to the fact that the Prime Minister could relaunch the CAQ and regain the hearts of Quebecers.
The deputy for Abitibi-Est, Pierre Dufour, proposed that the government acts about the carbon market, which creates in its opinion of confusion in the minds of Quebecers. Mr. Dufour had previously deplored the fact that no Abitibian minister sits on the Council of Ministers. He repeated Thursday that “this file hurts us politically”, without formally suggesting the Prime Minister to remedy this situation in the ministerial reshuffle he is preparing for the month of September.
Mr. Dufour did not want to confirm that he will be a candidate in the Quebec elections in 2026, saying that he wanted to “pass through the year” first. He also did not denume the corridor noises which predict him an application for the town hall of Val-d’Or in the fall. “This is rumors for the moment,” he just replied.