The story behind François Legault’s jump into politics in 1998 begins in a schoolyard.
Posted at 5:00 am.
The farm of the Mont-Jésus-Marie external school is visited by his sons Xavier and Victor.
Two other little guys wear out the chairs at this private school in Outremont: Alexandre and Simon Bouchard, son of Lucien Bouchard, then Prime Minister of Quebec.
Legault and Bouchard don’t know each other yet. It was their wives who became their first friends: Isabelle Brais and Audrey Best, who died of cancer in 2011.
During the parents’ daily ritual of picking up their children after school, they exchange a few words. Their paths cross during activities. Polite expressions give way to trust.
One fine day, Isabelle Brais tells Audrey Best that her husband has “sold his business” and is “going through a period of reorientation and reflection.”
On the contrary, she does not test her husband with a view to a career in politics. She has no idea what happens next, which will soon make her cry.
PHOTO BERNARD BRAULT, LA PRESSE ARCHIVE
Lucien Bouchard and his wife Audrey Best, in 2000
But these words of that day were, so to speak, the trigger for François Legault’s political adventure, says Lucien Bouchard in an interview.
“Vachon cupcakes”
François Legault is undergoing a “reorientation” after a sudden and controversial decision in 1997.
In contradiction to his partners, he left Air Transat and sold his shares without warning.
The native of Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, who comes from a humble background, achieved his goal of being independent at the age of 40. He has 39. La Presse wrote at the time that he could make around $14 million by selling his shares.
François Legault sits on eight boards of directors – including Provigo, Culinar, Bestar and Sico – but he is ready for a new challenge.
“I examined with the Caisse de dépôt the possibility of buying a Quebec company,” said François Legault during a brief interview with La Presse on Thursday. Which company ? “I can tell you today… It was Culinar, so the Vachon cupcakes,” he reveals. The now century-old company passed to Mexican interests in 2014 after many moves over the years to maintain ownership in Quebec.
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVE
François Legault did not publicly display his sovereign faith before entering politics.
But François Legault is also interested in public affairs. It is known. However, his sovereign faith is currently less pronounced; he only communicates it privately to certain people. He would later say that he had hidden it during his years at Air Transat out of respect for his employees.
“I wasn’t after politics, except that when I left Air Transat I knew I wouldn’t play golf for the rest of my life,” Mr Legault added.
“Enrich” the PQ team
Audrey Best tells her husband what Isabelle Brais just confided in him. Lucien Bouchard said to himself: “Maybe there is someone there who is available for politics.”
“His profile was interesting,” explains the former prime minister.
“He is a HEC graduate, a trained accountant who has had a successful business career. And he is still young. I thought it was a great purchase. »
There is an alignment of stars. Lucien Bouchard wants to specifically “enrich” his team with a view to the parliamentary elections. He wants to recruit business people, a rare commodity in the Parti Québécois.
The former prime minister cannot remember the exact time and circumstances of his team’s first contact with François Legault. But he remembers that at the same moment “Jean-François Lisée enters the scene.”