Quebec National Assembly resumes; Premier Fréchette to re-open PEQ, renew notwithstanding clause on Bill 96

Quebec’s National Assembly resumed Tuesday after a three-week break that allowed new premier Christine Fréchette to take office. 

The new CAQ leader now has five weeks to push through her political program before the summer break on June 12.

And it’s all happening against the backdrop of a fast-approaching October general election, meaning the National Assembly will be dissolved again when the election is called — towards the end of August.

“We have five weeks of parliamentary work ahead of us,” Fréchette said in her inaugural parliamentary speech. “We won’t be able to change everything. But one thing is certain: we’re going to keep up the pace.”

Premier Fréchette outlined her priorities for the coming weeks, promising to revive stalled legislation and table new bills targeting violence against women and rising living costs.

“We will focus on five priorities: the cost of living, the economy, infrastructure, services, and identity,” she said.

CityNews spoke to Montrealers who said the cost of living and health care should be top priorities.

“The prices, especially in grocery stores, are really insane right now,” one person said.

“Health is definitely one of the most important things,” said another. “I had my dad come in and he couldn’t find his health-care provider.”

“I work in health care and I feel like it’s not sufficient,” added a third. “It concerns me enough that I’m actually moving.”

Fréchette confirmed a key leadership race promise: to re-open Quebec’s fast-track permanent residency pathway: the PEQ.

“I am announcing that the minister of immigration, francization and integration will re-open the Quebec Experience Program for two years,” she said.

Notwithstanding clause for Bill 96

Fréchette’s very first bill will aim to renew the notwithstanding clause for Bill 96, which strengthens the Charter of the French Language.

The notwithstanding clause, which aims to shield a law from legal challenges, must be renewed every five years. Since Bill 96 was passed in May 2022, the premier is therefore getting a head start.  

“Why wait?” said Deputy Premier Ian Lafrenière. “For us, it’s important we heard citizens about it, so we’re doing it now.”

“Thanks to this tool, we loudly and clearly affirm who we are,” added Fréchette.

The bill is expected to be tabled on Wednesday. This legislative initiative will also force Liberal leader Charles Milliard to commit. In recent weeks, he has been equivocating on his position regarding the use of the notwithstanding clause for Bill 96. 

Opposition parties are calling the move a distraction.

“Every time they don’t want to talk about their accomplishments or their failures, they turn to identity politics,” said André Fortin, the Quebec Liberal Party’s parliamentary leader.

“If your first move is the status quo, what does it tell us about what could happen if we go for 12 years of CAQ?” asked Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.

Political analyst Daniel Tran says the move forces every party to lay their cards on the table — just months before the fall election.

“It has to position all the other parties so that they have to take a stance on it right before the elections,” said Tran, the director of communications and governmental affairs at Casacom.

Other bills on the agenda

Fréchette has promised to table new bills on violence against women and the redrawing of the electoral map, and to take action on the price of gasoline and groceries, among other things.

On Wednesday, elected officials will begin the parliamentary committee study of bills 22 (welcome tax), 23 (forced hospitalizations) and 24 (fraudulent use of a person’s image).

Bill 22, which was spearheaded by former Municipal Affairs Minister Geneviève Guilbault, proposes to end the “double welcome tax” for common-law partners in the event of separation.

Bill 23, tabled by Health Minister Sonia Bélanger, aims to relax the criteria for forcibly hospitalizing a person in crisis.

This is the promised overhaul of Law P-38, the Act respecting the protection of persons whose mental state presents a danger to themselves or to others, adopted more than 25 years ago.

To launch the study of Bill 24, well-known Quebec television host Marie-Claude Barrette will share her experience as a victim of fraud.

A dozen other pieces of government legislation are expected to be recalled, including the controversial Bill 1 of Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette, which would create a Quebec constitution.

The resumption of work will give more visibility to the opposition parties, who will seek to intensify their attacks against the CAQ government.

–With files from La Presse Canadienne