National Assembly resumes in Quebec City: Jolin-Barrette appointed head of Canadian Relations

Back at the National Assembly after the holiday break, Quebec elected officials are starting their winter parliamentary session Tuesday that risks being dominated by economic issues with the United States.

From the outset, Premier François Legault announced that he was relinquishing Jean-François Roberge’s responsibility for Canadian Relations to the Minister of Justice and House Leader, Simon Jolin-Barrette.

The Minister of Seniors, Sonia Bélanger, will now be responsible for the Laurentians region, a responsibility previously held by the Minister of the Environment, Benoit Charette.

President Donald Trump’s return to the White House, and the tariff threats he made against Canada, monopolized everyone’s attention during the pre-sessional caucuses last week. 

Premier Legault indicated that he is considering retaliatory measures with Ottawa and his counterparts in other provinces. He is scheduled to travel to Washington twice between February and April.

Trump has been threatening for weeks to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian imports. According to Legault, 100,000 jobs in Quebec are at stake.

He promised to help Quebecers “at all costs” during the “Trump crisis,” not ruling out postponing the achievement of a balanced budget.

In the meantime, Legault will still have to deal with the discontent caused by the cuts in health and education, in addition to leading difficult negotiations with the doctors’ federations to renew their agreements.

This is without mentioning the controversial Bill 83 that his Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, will pilot, and which aims to force new doctors to practice in the public sector for five years.

Furthermore, the President of the Treasury Board, Sonia LeBel, announced before the holidays that she intends to reform the method of negotiation with public sector unions.

For their part, the Ministers of Education and Secularism, Bernard Drainville and Roberge, are evaluating a possible tightening of the law on state secularism.

On Monday, Roberge also announced his intention to table a bill “on integration into the Quebec nation.”

Several government bills will be under consideration: Bill 81 from Benoit Charette which would require manufacturers to sell zero-emission heavy vehicles.

Consultations on André Lamontagne’s Bill 86 will also begin Tuesday. This bill aims in particular to combat the purchase of land by foreign investors.

On Thursday, the special bipartisan commission looking into young people’s screen time, will begin its second phase of public consultations. It is due to submit its final report in May.

For several months, Legault’s Coalition Avenir Québec has been lagging behind Paul St-Pierre Plamondon’s Parti Québécois in the polls.

Legault has until March 5 to call a byelection in the Terrebonne riding, which has been vacant since the resounding departure of Pierre Fitzgibbon last September.

The PQ has a very strong chance of winning that byelection, according to the poll aggregator Qc125.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews