At a time when voting intentions for the CAQ are at their lowest since he came to power in 2018, François Legault will face a vote of confidence with his activists gathered at next weekend’s National Congress.
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The last time the CAQ leader underwent a vote of confidence a few months after the 2014 election, François Legault had scored 97.2%. He was due to repeat the test in 2020 but the exercise was canceled because of the pandemic.
Could his government’s recent about-face on its flagship promise of a third link between Quebec and Lévis negatively impact the outcome?
That’s exactly what two columnists attempted to answer this week on QUB radio.
“I have no concerns about François Legault’s vote of confidence,” said political scientist Marie Montpetit.
Nevertheless, since the abandonment of the 3rd street connection, the former Liberal MP observed that “the pillars of the CAQ temple have faltered a bit”.
“There is no danger for François Legault, let’s just say it, this party is still a man’s party,” said Steve E. Fortin in the same vein.
“Will he now have a Soviet score à la Paul St-Pierre Plamondon? I don’t think so,” he added.
PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, currently benefiting from the decline in CAQ in the polls, scored 98.5% when his campaigners voted on his leadership last March.
The topic “future”
The 2023 national congress of the Coalition avenir Québec will have the theme “The Québec of the future, the future of Québec”.
The first proposal discussed by the activists, namely “to support the construction of new hydroelectric power plants”, is reminiscent of what François Legault put forward in the last election campaign.
As for the end of the SAQ monopoly proposed by the Saint-Jérôme militants, when investigating the funds, Finance Minister Eric Girard let it be known that this was not in his plans. He would still leave the debate to Congress.
A few suggestions on the congress map:
- Build new hydroelectric power plants
- Support the construction of a high-speed train (TGV) between Quebec and Montreal
- Allow right turns at red lights on the island of Montreal
- Allow restaurateurs to require a deposit upon reservation
- Reduce cellular plan costs
- Repatriate Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) to Quebec
- Tax exemption for overtime to combat labor shortages
- Ending the SAQ monopoly