Former PQ MNA Bernard Drainville will seek re-election with the CAQ
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CAQ MNAs and ministers downplayed the arrival of a hardline sovereignist in what Premier François Legault says is a nationalist coalition of politicians of all stripes.
Bernard Drainville announces his decision to leave politics and take up a radio career in 2016. His daughter Rosalie looks on. Photo by John Kenney /Montreal Gazette Article content
QUEBEC — News that Premier François Legault has recruited a second prominent sovereignist, Bernard Drainville, to run for the Coalition Avenir Québec in the fall election is proof he is secretly preparing to launch a fresh attempt at Quebec independence, the Liberals charged Friday.
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“The agenda is less and less hidden,” Liberal house leader Marc Tanguay told reporters at a morning news conference. “François Legault this morning confirmed his separatist agenda. There is not much room left for federalists in the Coalition Avenir Québec.
“The CAQ is the new PQ 2.0. Bernard Drainville is François Legault’s PKP (Pierre Karl Péladeau).”
In the 2014 election campaign, the Parti Québécois recruited media mogul Péladeau as a star candidate. Péladeau promptly reignited the sovereignty issue with his famous fist pump for independence at the news conference where he was presented by leader Pauline Marois.
The PQ went on to lose the election to the Liberals.
On Friday, the halls of power were buzzing with independence talk upon the news that Drainville was leaving his job as a 98.5 FM radio host to try to make a political comeback. Abandoning his struggling old PQ party, Drainville will run for the CAQ in the riding of Lévis, sources confirmed.
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Drainville was a PQ MNA and minister from 2007 to 2016. As a cabinet minister in the Marois government, he was responsible for the drafting of Bill 60 in 2013 — better known as the charter of values — which proposed a total ban on religious symbols in the public sector.
Drainville made a run for the PQ leadership after Marois stepped down in 2014, but dropped out of the race to support Péladeau, who eventually won.
Drainville, who turns 59 Monday, arrives just in time to help the CAQ in a heated battle with the Conservative Party of Quebec for ridings in the capital region. Drainville lives in the Quebec City suburb of St-Augustin-de-Desmaures.
As if by coincidence, the current CAQ MNA for Lévis, François Paradis, issued a statement shortly after the Drainville news emerged, announcing he will not seek another mandate in the fall election.
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The announcement appeared to have been moved forward for political reasons, because Paradis, who is speaker of the National Assembly, still has another full week in his role as the arbitrator of debates in the legislature.
Rumours of Drainville’s return to active politics have been floating for weeks. His eldest son, Lambert Drainville, was recently hired as press aide to junior health minister Lionel Carmant.
The leap back into politics will cost Drainville financially: he had just signed a new three-year contract with Cogeco for his work on 98.5 FM.
The news is another blow to the PQ, which is in last place in the polls. This week, former premier Lucien Bouchard said the PQ may no longer be the right vehicle to advance the cause of independence.
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Reaction from Drainville’s old party to his decision was swift and brutal.
PQ MNA Pascal Bérubé, who sat in cabinet with Drainville, ripped into his former colleague, demanding to know how long he has known he would be a CAQ candidate and when he started negotiating his return to politics.
However, Bérubé said he was not surprised, accusing Drainville of being soft on Legault’s government in his political analysis on his radio show but merciless with the opposition parties.
Stirring the pot further, Bérubé wondered how comfortable federalists in the CAQ caucus will be with the arrival of Drainville. He speculated that if Drainville is returning now, it may be to position himself as an eventual successor to Legault, who turned 65 on May 26.
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“Remember: the name of his radio show is Drainville PM,” Bérubé quipped. “I guess that does not just stand for Drainville in the afternoon.”
But he dodged questions on what impact Drainville’s leap will have on the PQ as it struggles to remain relevant.
“The PQ is about strong convictions,” Bérubé said. “Bernard Drainville is about ambitions.”
CAQ MNAs and ministers circled the wagons, downplaying the arrival of a hardline sovereignist in what Legault says is a nationalist coalition of politicians of all stripes.
Family Minister Mathieu Lacombe swatted aside Tanguay’s remarks, saying they amount to a conspiracy theory that does not need to be taken seriously.
“The CAQ is neither sovereignist nor nationalist,” said Economy Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon. “We are working in the context of a federation we respect. I am federalist. I enjoy working with my counterparts in Ottawa.
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“There is no danger of our caucus becoming sovereignist.”
“In my office I have both flags, and I am completely at ease with this,” said CAQ deputy house leader Sébastien Schneeberger. “I am an immigrant. I was welcomed to Canada. I am very proud to live in Quebec. I know Mr. Drainville well. He is a very good person.”
Arriving for question period, Legault refused to comment on his new star candidate. He said he preferred to praise Paradis for his years in the speaker’s chair — a difficult job for anyone, the premier noted.
“As for future candidates, we will talk about them in due time,” Legault said.
Answering a question from PQ parliamentary leader Joël Arseneau later, Legault repeated that the CAQ stands for Quebec within Canada.
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“It is not the CAQ’s objective” to launch a sovereignty referendum, Legault said. “We are a nationalist party which defends our values within Canada.”
Drainville is the second prominent sovereignist politician to join the CAQ. Legault has recruited Caroline St-Hilaire, a former Bloc Québécois MP and the former mayor of Longueuil.
Legault will be in Sherbrooke Sunday to announce St-Hilaire will be the candidate in that riding, formerly held by Liberal Jean Charest.
Drainville did not respond to a request for comment.
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