The Legault government has appointed former Mayor of Longueuil, Caroline St-Hilaire, as Administrator of the International Organization of Francophonie (OIF).
Posted at 10:02 p.m
Another candidacy, that of the federal government but whose name is not known, has been announced, according to a source quoted by the daily Le Devoir, who was the first to report the news of Caroline St-Hilaire’s appointment on Tuesday.
“The government of Quebec has been asked by the federal government to contribute to the process aimed at filling the position of administrator of the OIF. It is Ottawa that is responsible for submitting a list of candidates to the International Organization of Francophonie,” said the office of Quebec Minister for International Relations and La Francophonie Martine Biron.
For her part, Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly declined to comment on the candidates she intended to propose to the OIF.
The need to appoint a new Administrator, the second most important position within the OIF, stems from the resignation in unclear circumstances of former Canada representative Geoffroi Montpetit, who has been in office since March 2021 and whose contract has not been renewed.
Two controversial departures
The position of Administrator of the OIF is reserved for Canada for the duration of Secretary General Louise Mushikiwabo’s mandate, which was extended for a further four years at last November’s summit in Djerba, Tunisia.
The appointment of Mr Montpetit himself follows the hasty departure of his predecessor, Catherine Cano, a former media executive. The latter had been appointed in 2019 but abruptly resigned about a year and a half later, causing a stir in diplomatic circles in Quebec and Canada.
That second early departure led a source consulted by La Presse to suggest that “it begs the question of whether the problem really is the steward or the steward,” a thinly veiled criticism of Louise Mushikiwabo’s leadership style.
As for Caroline St-Hilaire, her name had already been mentioned for a position as Quebec’s delegate in Barcelona last fall, a hypothesis uncovered by Le Journal de Québec. However, this possibility had brought the government repeated criticism from the opposition parties, who saw it as a partisan appointment.
Remember that Caroline St-Hilaire wore the colors of the Coalition avenir Québec in the last Sherbrooke election. In the end she wasn’t elected.
With Melanie Marquis, La Presse