November 7, 2024

Legault’s new cabinet includes minister for anglos, first Indigenous female MNA

Drainville #Drainville

Premie François Legault shook up his old cabinet on Thursday, leaving some members in their old portfolios and giving other ministers new tasks. © Provided by The Gazette Premie François Legault shook up his old cabinet on Thursday, leaving some members in their old portfolios and giving other ministers new tasks.

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:

  • Transport, sustainable mobility, deputy premier: Geneviève Guilbault
  • Finance, relations with English-speaking Quebecers: Éric Girard
  • Treasury Board President, government administration: Sonia LeBel
  • Health: Christian Dubé
  • Economy, innovation, energy, regional economic development, Montreal region: Pierre Fitzgibbon
  • Labour: Jean Boulet
  • Immigration, francization, integration: Christine Fréchette
  • Education: Bernard Drainville
  • Higher education: Pascale Déry
  • Environment, climate change, wildlife and parks: Benoit Charette
  • Employment: Kateri Champagne Jourdain
  • Justice, government house leader: Simon Jolin-Barrette
  • Municipal affairs: Andrée Laforest
  • Culture, communications, youth: Mathieu Lacombe
  • International relations, Francophonie, status of women: Martine Biron
  • French language, democratic institutions, Canadian relations, Canadian Francophonie, access to information and protection of personal information, secularism: Jean-François Roberge
  • Sports, recreation, outdoors: Isabelle Charest
  • Social services: Lionel Carmant
  • Tourism: Caroline Proulx
  • Agriculture, fisheries and food: André Lamontagne
  • Junior health minister responsible for seniors: Sonia Bélanger
  • Relations with First Nations, Inuit: Ian Lafrenière
  • Public security: François Bonnardel
  • Social solidarity, community action: Chantal Rouleau
  • Housing: France-Élaine Duranceau
  • Infrastructure: Jonatan Julien
  • Cybersecurity and digital technology: Éric Caire
  • Natural resources, forests: Maïté Blanchette Vézina
  • Junior economic minister, fight against racism: Christopher Skeete
  • Family: Suzanne Roy
  • 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:

  • Laurentians: Benoit Charette
  • Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean: Andrée Laforest
  • Chaudière-Appalaches: Bernard Drainville
  • Lanaudière: Caroline Proulx
  • Abitibi-Témiscamingue and the Outaouais: Mathieu Lacombe
  • Eastern Townships: François Bonnardel
  • Montérégie: Suzanne Roy
  • Côte-Nord: Kateri Champagne Jourdain
  • Centre-du-Québec: André Lamontagne
  • Bas-Saint-Laurent and Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine: Maïté Blanchette Vézina
  • Laval:  Christopher Skeete
  • Quebec City region: Jonatan Julien
  • Mauricie and Nord-du-Québec: Jean Boulet
  • ariga@postmedia.com

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