Legault’s new cabinet includes minister for anglos, first Indigenous female MNA
Drainville #Drainville
François Legault’s new cabinet is a mix of seasoned veterans and political novices.
Legault, fresh from winning 90 of 125 National Assembly seats in the Oct. 3 election, unveiled his second-term lineup in Quebec City on Thursday.
The Oct. 3 “vote of confidence (in the CAQ) comes with great responsibilities and I am happy to be able to count on one of the strongest cabinets in our history,” he said after the ministers were sworn in. “We will do everything to serve Quebec.”
Legault left some cabinet members with their old portfolios and gave other ministers new tasks.
The new cabinet includes a former Parti Québécois minister, the first Indigenous woman named to cabinet — and a minister responsible for relations with English-speaking Quebecers, a role previously held by Legault.
The premier gave the delicate immigration portfolio to a first-time minister, hoping to turn the page after a series of controversial CAQ statements about newcomers during the election campaign.
The new cabinet has 30 members, 14 of whom are women. Legault’s first cabinet, in 2018, featured 27 ministers, including 11 women.
Here is the breakdown:
By naming Girard minister for anglophones, Legault may be aiming to mend fences with Quebec’s English-speaking community after clashing over language, school boards and secularism legislation that was widely unpopular among anglophones.
During the election campaign, Legault made it clear that Dubé was the only minister guaranteed to keep his old cabinet job — health — in a second mandate. The premier said he was happy with how Dubé was handling the pandemic and with his plan to overhaul the health system in a second mandate.
Now education minister, Drainville is a hardline sovereignist and former PQ minister who was responsible for the PQ’s “charter of values,” which proposed a ban on religious symbols in the public sector. The former radio host was recruited by the CAQ in June.
Boulet lost the immigration portfolio, but hung on to labour issues.
Legault had said Boulet disqualified himself from immigration issues after sparking outrage during the campaign when he said “80 per cent of immigrants go to Montreal, do not work, do not speak French or do not adhere to the values of Quebec society.”
Fréchette, a first-time MNA, faces a difficult job in immigration.
Apart from recovering from CAQ campaign controversies, she must contend with pressure from business leaders to increase immigration amid a severe labour shortage and an aging population, even as the CAQ worries non-French-speaking immigrants threaten to Quebec’s dominant language.
Fréchette is another former PQ stalwart, having served as Jean-François Lisée’s deputy chief of staff in the Pauline Marois government.
The new employment minister, Champagne Jourdain, is the first Indigenous woman elected to the National Assembly. Born in Uashat mak Mani-Utenam in Northern Quebec, she delivered her oath in French and Innu when she was sworn in this week.
Now in charge of several portfolios, Roberge was previously the education minister, a role in which he alienated some teachers, unions and parents, in part over lack of action to improve air quality in schools amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The decision to give Fitzgibbon responsibility for energy could cause tension at Hydro-Québec, whose CEO, Sophie Brochu, has indicated she may quit if the government becomes too focused on energy-intensive projects for industry to the detriment of projects favourable to the environment.
In an apparent bid to avoid such a confrontation, Legault announced the creation of a committee that will look at the economy and energy transition. Several ministers, including Fitzgibbon, will sit on the committee, as will Brochu.
As part of the cabinet announcement, the premier appointed ministers to oversee regional issues:
ariga@postmedia.com