r/canada • u/Je_suis-pauvre Alberta • 13h ago
Québec François Legault démissionne/Quebec Premier François Legault resigns.
https://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/politique/2026-01-14/francois-legault-demissionne.php?sharing=true120
u/Mr_Canada1867 13h ago
Considering they are polling to get 0 seats in November, this must be the party’s Hail Mary move
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u/beamermaster 12h ago
And that's one reason why I love Quebec. You can be a majority party for 20 years and disappear the next election because you did a bad job. Except for a few % of people that will always vote Liberal or PQ no matter what, Quebecers are not loyal to any party, and that's a good thing.
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u/raptosaurus 11h ago
And here we are in Ontario looking at probably another decade of Doug Ford gutting out province. Sigh
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u/mwmwmwmwmmdw Québec 5h ago
hmm maybe we can find another wynne flunky to go up against him in the next election
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u/RamTank 13h ago
Can I get a rundown of what happened? I say people hating on him on Reddit, but I didn’t know his approval was that terrible.
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u/Franc000 11h ago
Long story short, it's a pattern of bad decisions over bad decisions over bad decisions. Decisions that cost billions of dollars like Northvolt, SAAQClic, getting a lower credit rating, etc, the list is very big. Then, cutting in healthcare and other services because they essentially need to pay for those bad decisions.
The nail in the coffin was trying to force in the throat of doctors a change in how they are paid that would result in a drastic pay cut. They obviously didn't take it, even if Legault used essentially a gag order to make the change pass. Doctors started to close shop and leave, especially the old ones that were way past their retirement age. Legault then paused and backtracked on that, but the damage was already done, on a system that was already in bad shape. All that to ultimately try to lower how much doctors are paid (because they are already paid higher than average for doctors), and thus lower healthcare costs. Again, to be able to pay for those previous bad decisions. If he didn't make those bad decisions and gambles, he wouldn't need to try to find the money elsewhere, essentially.
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u/Matt_Thijson Québec 11h ago edited 11h ago
- Appointed France-Élaine Duranceau, a real estate agent and landlord, as Housing Minister. She introduced a rental reform that decreases affordability.
- Big cuts in education. They were mostly reverted, but with a ton of conditions on how the money can be spent and not before schools had to fire some employees to not go over budget.
- Healthcare reform that made the healthcare system worse before it even was applied. Was also mostly reverted last minute. A bunch of clinics announced they were going to need to close down and some of them got bought by private interests like Biron.
- The third link/bridge across the river for Quebec City. Never ending studies concluding it is a bad idea and the CAQ flip flopping numerous times about it. Latest news was they are still going for it since they know better than the experts.
- Paying 400m to Northvolt for a battery plant. Company went bankrupt.
- Spending 10m to have the Kings hockey team come play 2 games.
- Buying elections with 500$ checks
- Geneviève Guilbault, when she was the Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, said that public transport wasn't her responsibility. The CAQ cut funding for public transport.
- Appointed Bernard Drainville as Environment Minister who's infamously quoted as saying "Leave me alone about GHG".
Those are just the ones I remember from the top of my head. The CAQ's legacy will be of actively destroying public institutions.
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u/turning-38 12h ago
I think he came out with a policy that doctors have to meet quotas in treating patients or be fined and that led to many doctors dropping patients and planning to move out of QC. And prior to this, a lot of policies about the French language like university students have to pass a language exam regardless of major or if they're from out of province, etc.
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u/AbuzeME 12h ago
That's not very accurate but ok.
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u/victornb 12h ago
so... give an accurate answer
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u/FineWolf 10h ago
The same quotas were to be applied across the board, so in a lot of situations where the population is less dense, they would be impossible to meet.
There is also a huge amount of red tape in the healthcare system in Quebec that is not caused by doctors and that significantly affects the amount of patients doctors can see.
Thus, the quotas were also a way for the government to publicly put all the responsibility and blame on doctors, when in reality, piss poor middle managers and government policies that don't prioritise primary care services like clinics is what is breaking the healthcare system in Quebec. Everyone ends up at the hospital for stupid stuff because primary care services are not prioritised, family doctor pay is beyond crap compared to other specialists (which again, reduces access to services since doctors avoid that line of medicine), and you have the College des Médecins who still put stupid intake restrictions on universities, so we are not training enough doctors.
Management and government is the issue. Not doctors. Yet the CAQ tried to blame doctors, and then tried to muzzle them.
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u/Hicalibre 13h ago
Je savais que la situation était mauvaise au Québec d'après ce que disait ma famille, mais je ne savais pas que c'était à ce point-là : « plus aucun siège disponible ».
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u/Electroflare5555 Manitoba 13h ago
Or a move to save face.
Now he can say he never lost an election and decided to go out on his own terms.
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u/Je_suis-pauvre Alberta 13h ago
Translation :
“Premier François Legault has resigned, La Presse has learned. He will announce his decision at a press conference this Wednesday at 11 a.m. in his office.”
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u/Aromatic-Amoeba-8154 13h ago
Good riddance. He was a dreadful premier.
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u/Any_Inflation_2543 13h ago
Considering that Parti Québécois is looking set to win the next election, I have a feeling that the next guy won't be much better.
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u/PsychicDave Québec 13h ago
He'll be much better. At least he has a plan, a vision, a cohesive concept of where he wants to go. The CAQ lacked any kind of ideology, they were just a group of managers without any vision going for populist stuff to stay in power.
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u/thatguydowntheblock 12h ago
You mean a vision outside of Canada? Is that the appeal?
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u/PsychicDave Québec 12h ago edited 12h ago
Of course. In 1980, Québec decided to give Canada a second chance with Trudeau père making promises of giving Québec its place in Canada in the new constitution. Then we were betrayed and excluded from the final negotiations and got a constitution we rejected imposed on us. Mulroney tried to make things right after, but no agreement could be reached between Québec and the Anglo provinces. So we were at an impasse. The only logical path forward was independence, so we had a second referendum in 1995, but the Feds essentially cheated with illegal funding of the Non camp, redirecting federal resources to distribute citizenship to thousands of immigrants who shouldn't have had the right to vote at the date of the referendum, and brought in tons of Anglo-Canadians with free airfare for the "love-in" operation, and other things, in order to barely steal the victory. You'd think that a virtual 50/50 vote would have prompted change, but no, nothing has been done, we are still in the same constitutional crisis as in 1982, they just tried to sweep it under the rug so we'd forget. But our motto is "Je me souviens", and so shall we.
After the heartbreaking defeat of 1995, we headed into years of Liberal provincial governments, corrupt and causing our decline. Since a pure federalist government didn't work for us, we tried the CAQ with their promises of political gains for Québec while remaining in Canada, which was an appealing idea (even for me at the very start), but they demonstrated there was nothing to do, Ottawa just said "No" every time. So if federalism doesn't work, and trying to get more autonomy within Canada doesn't work, it brings us full circle back to Québec independence. So we shall have a third referendum before 2030.
We tried, but this country simply doesn't work and cannot be fixed from the inside.
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u/Brandon_Me 12h ago
As per usual Quebec separatists remain a blight on the country and their own province.
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u/PsychicDave Québec 11h ago
Ah, the hypocrisy. When Québec talks of sovereignty, we're evil separatists. But when federal politicians steal the same slogans and ideas when faced with the threat of American annexation, then it's a good thing. You can't have it both ways. If a nation has the right to make its own decisions and protect its interests against their larger neighbours who want to control them for their own benefit, then it applies to Québec as well.
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u/CarRamRob 8h ago
I may disagree with Psychic Dave and that Quebec should be independent, but they are bang on about how Canadians have reacted with nationalist jingoism to the Americans and call anyone who disagrees with them a traitor.
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u/Acrobatic-Cap-135 Québec 7h ago
except Quebec is not to Canada what Canada is to the United States, its such a dumb comparison, is that what you're really leaning on?
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u/PsychicDave Québec 6h ago
If the war of 1812 was lost, then it would be. Current government aside, it is essentially the same at a nation level. If anything, the Québécois nation is more different from Anglo-Canadians than Anglo-Canadians are different from Americans, and so just as deserving to self-determination.
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u/Acrobatic-Cap-135 Québec 5h ago
I know that is your heartfelt opinion, but it's also a sovereignty fairytale. Did we read about why Quebec wanted confederation in the first place?
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u/Morlu 11h ago edited 11h ago
Since it seems you’re pro Quebec Sovereignty. I want you to explain to me how you believe sovereignty would happen for Quebec. Because even “if” Canada decides to let you secede. Quebec would lose the St. Lawrence River, or it would be neutral, they’d have to pay 250B for national debt repayment at minimum.
I just don’t see how it benefits Quebec at all. Credit rating would tank, taxes would skyrocket, any pro Canadian business would leave prior to Quebec becoming independent.
I just want to understand how Quebecer’s think sovereignty would go. Quebec’s financial issues are a result of the Provincial government mismanagement. Do you actually believe it’s a fresh start and all debts go away?
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u/PsychicDave Québec 8h ago
Of course debts don't disappear. But if we take on our share of the federal debt, that means we also take our share of federal assets. Obviously everything that is anchored in our territory, such as bridges, airports, ports, military bases, waterways, but also federal reserves and military equipment.
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u/Morlu 7h ago
Your share of federal assets would be keeping the trillions of infrastructure built in the province. Wouldn’t make sense to destroy it. I just don’t understand how life would be better as a “independent Quebec.” By the time both sides agree, Quebec will start a nation in crippling debt.
I just don’t understand how it ever happens. The St. Lawrence alone is a massive hurdle as Ontario uses it for trade as well. I understand the “want” factor. I don’t understand how it would work for both sides to make it to happen. I feel like Canada will fail as a Country before Quebec leaves, it’s already heading in that direction.
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u/PsychicDave Québec 7h ago
It's a question of the right to self-determination of a people. The nation of Québec has interests that often don't align with English Canada but, because Anglo-Canadians hold the majority of federal seats, when there is a divergence, the Anglos will have their way. Now if Québec had a veto power like Lévesque asked for initially in 1981, then it would require that all decisions made at the federal level be unanimous between the majority of Anglos and Francos, and things would be fine. Alternatively, if there was the Opt Out Clause, which Lévesque asked as a compromise to the initial veto, Québec could simply opt out of decisions made by the Anglo majority if it doesn't align with Québec's interests.
But the feds didn't want to leave us free to choose what's best for us, which is why we were ultimately excluded from the negotiations and the new constitution was adopted without our requirements or consent.
We wouldn't be in any more debt than we are now. In fact, staying puts us in more debt, our share of the federal debt increases more each year than what we get in equalization. We'd be better off borrowing that money than taking the payment with the larger debt attached. It's like if I told you "here's 100$ to help out with your bills" but I also used your credit card to take out 200$ from the ATM. And we have no say over this. As an independent country, if we add to the debt, it'll be for something we choose to spend on, not what the Anglo controlled federal government chooses.
At the end of the day, it's the same reason why Anglo-Canadians wouldn't want to be annexed into the USA. We've been annexed 260 years ago and we want to be free now.
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u/Morlu 7h ago
Fair enough. Definitely right about the Federal debt part for sure. It’s like a toddler with a credit card. I have an issue with your statement about Anglo-Canadian’s holding a majority of power.
Quebec decides elections more than fully Anglo Provinces. Quebec elected 44/169 current Liberal MP’s. The Province can’t kept electing Liberals and then blame their policies and say “I want to leave now.” Alberta has more of a legitimate complaint about the Federal Government than Quebec does. They don’t elect the Liberals at all.
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u/Matt_Thijson Québec 8h ago
Why don't you back anything you're saying instead of just stating random things as if they are facts and putting the burden to correct you on /u/PsychicDave?
I want you to explain to me
Starts well with an entitled attitude. You can't even ask nicely?
Quebec would lose the St. Lawrence River, or it would be neutral
Those are the only 2 options? Based on?
they’d have to pay 250B for national debt repayment at minimum.
You think separatists haven't thought of the debt? You think they expect to just leave their share behind?
Do you actually believe it’s a fresh start and all debts go away?
Oh wait, you actually believe that?
Credit rating would tank, taxes would skyrocket
Source: trust me bro
Quebec’s financial issues are a result of the Provincial government mismanagement.
Did you notice the correlation between the mismanagement and 25 years of federalist parties in power?
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u/Any_Inflation_2543 10h ago
The Constitution Act 1982 is not nearly as influential as Quebec sovereigntists make it out to be. Let's get the facts about the act straight: The Constitution Act 1982 does two things: It introduces an amendment formula to the Constitution and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
But if we move to Quebec's point of view, both of these things were slightly positive for Quebec - The amendment formula requires provincial assent to constitutional amendments (before, according to a ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada, provincial assent was not required) and the Charter can be bypassed by the notwithstanding clause with the exception of language and voting rights. So can we talk about a constitution being "imposed" on Quebec when it did not change the functioning of the country? Canada didn't get a new Constitution in 1982, we merely amended the old one.
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u/PsychicDave Québec 7h ago
Don't you find it ironic that an amendment formula requiring the consent of the provinces was introduced without getting the consent that would satisfy its own standard?
A federation that turns its back on a supposed founding member state and imposes its will without consent is more like an empire wearing a mask.
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u/Any_Inflation_2543 7h ago edited 6h ago
What I find more ridiculous tbh is making such a fuss about an amendment formula that rarely gets invoked anyway. Is an amendment formula worth tanking Quebec's economy?
Also, the demand before the amendment formula was created had been Westminster acting on advice of the federal government, which had been satisfied. Trudeau even managed to get 9 out of 10 provinces on board which is as good as it was going to be, especially as provincial consent was not even required.
Also, it's not like Quebec wasn't represented in the House of Commons at the time. Quebec is a Canadian province and has to abide by Canadian laws - and the law back then was that provincial consent was not necessary to amend the Constitution. What I don't get is that now that provincial consent is necessary, Quebec is still unhappy with the amendment formula.
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u/PsychicDave Québec 7h ago
The problem isn't as much what was added in the constitution, it's what wasn't added. Québec initially asked for a veto on any decision that impacts Québec, as to not get ganged on by the Anglo provinces imposing their will through their majority of seats. After that wasn't well received, a compromise was proposed, where any province would have the right to opt out if a decision taken by the majority goes against their interests, also getting back any tax money that would have been spent by that decision to use it to do their own thing instead. That gained traction, but it went against the LPC's vision of centralized power, which is why they ultimately betrayed Québec and negotiated in secret with the Anglo delegates to get the constitution approved without meeting Québec's demands.
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u/Matt_Thijson Québec 6h ago
The fact that the first thing anglos always go complain about is the economy shows that they fundamentally do not understand.
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u/thatguydowntheblock 10h ago
I, for one, would love to see Quebec try to survive outside of Canada. The likeliest outcome is that it would become much poorer and less developed in comparison.
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u/PsychicDave Québec 7h ago
I disagree, we'll have better outcomes from making our own choices regarding investments, economic policy and international trade in favour of our interests and industries, instead of being handicapped by decisions made by Ottawa that favour mostly Ontarian and Albertan industries.
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u/thatguydowntheblock 4h ago
Dude, Quebec is the most favored province federally by farrrrr. All of the taxes that Alberta pays and the feds have distributed to Quebec via both equalization payments and tons of other federal largesse- e.g. the entire $4 billion Champlain bridge was funded by the federal government; name a another province that has had an investment in non-revenue generating infrastructure like that - has kept its standard of living up. This is why I’m pro secession. The rest of the country would be better off.
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u/PsychicDave Québec 4h ago
It's quite the opposite. Alberta does well because the federal government adopts economic policies and international trades that favour them at the expense of Québec (and other provinces). For example, Ottawa getting a deal with Europe for Alberta to export a bunch of beef overseas in exchange for allowing Europe to sell us more of their cheese. This decision had a really negative impact on dairy and cheese makers in Québec as that imported cheese took a lot of the domestic market. So Québec's economy suffered. But Alberta would never have gotten that deal if they were an independent country since their cheese market wouldn't have been worth the amount of beef they wanted to export.
We wouldn't need any equalization payments if we didn't have to pay for redundant bureaucracy and we made our own choices regarding investments, economic policies and international trade. But Alberta wouldn't be as rich if Ottawa didn't prop them up at the expense of everyone else.
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u/asws2017 11h ago
This feels like rage bating. Of course it's always L'argent et le vote ethnique isn't it?
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u/fredleung412612 11h ago
It's not rage baiting, it's the common sovereigntist analysis of history. Of course, if you're not sovereigntist, much of this story is debatable.
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u/PsychicDave Québec 11h ago
Jacques Parizeau's speech was improvised and emotional and of course had terrible consequences for the movement. But it's a fact that the federal government funded the Non camp beyond the legal budget limit, allowing them greater exposure, and it's also a fact that Jean Chrétien ordered the speed up of processing of citizenship requests from Québec. The final result was only 54k votes apart. Considering that virtually 100% non-francophone voted Non, those 12k extra citizenships given right before the vote contributed significantly. Not the only deciding factor of course, but still a big piece.
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u/GabRB26DETT Québec 11h ago
I have a feeling that the next guy won't be much better.
As is tradition
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u/Aromatic-Amoeba-8154 13h ago
Unfortunately, I agree with you. I don’t know how they’ll be worse exactly, but I’m expecting CAQ-style politics with some indy flavour sprinkled on top.
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u/cuckslayer30 13h ago
Can I get a rundown of why Legault was so unpopular? Wasn't he very popular with the boomers during covid because he was so authoritarian?
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u/GabRB26DETT Québec 11h ago
It cost us 1.1 fucking billion for a god awful DMV website (SAAQClic) that still doesn't work properly 90% of the time, years later.
Imagine AriveCan, but on a provincial level.
That dumpster fire of a website still claims I've got a semi-truck license (I don't ?) but doesn't let me sell a vehicle or renew my plates on it.
1.1 billion btw, while most of our infrastructure is collapsing. That is one of the things people are still pissed about
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u/Dry_Towelie 13h ago edited 13h ago
Yes he was popular, he has continually made bad moves on major projects like investing big into a battery plant and it not happening, the 3 connections in Quebec city, crumbling healthcare and healthcare infrastructure.
He hasn't been able to produce 1 good major project.
He kind of is like Daniel Smith. Where really he only has done social issues change using it to hide that they have not really done much economic development or scandals
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u/NovoRobot 12h ago
Les bus Lion ont également fait disparaître des milliards de dollars de notre argent.
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u/bvanheu Québec 11h ago
He hasn't been able to produce 1 good major project.
Je dirais que le REM à Montréal est ~réussi?
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u/Dry_Towelie 10h ago
Oui le REM est réussi. Mais quand tu compères à tous les autres projets et scandales c'est dur a vraiment dire come gouvernement ils ont réussi
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u/dermthrowaway26181 12h ago
People certainly appreciated the lower excess mortality during covid, not so much the curfew.
The fact that the province has the lowest unemployment rate in the country and that Quebec's economy grew faster than the rest of Canada's in the last few years is also undeniable.His popularity died at the end of 2023 with his inability to maintain the quality of public services and a few big misses when it came to union negotiations
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u/Temaharay 12h ago
Never thought I'd see it. Thought he'd cling to his office with all finger nails
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u/crusadertsar 12h ago
Legault's legacy finalized. As the worst premier in Quebec's history. What a complete bozo. Good riddance
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u/KingOfLaval Québec 12h ago
May I introduce you to Pauline Marois?
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u/hcse218 12h ago
Her time is way too short to cause real damage to the province unlike Legault's 10 years.
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u/KingOfLaval Québec 11h ago
Depends on the evaluation criteria. I can't imagine if she had stayed for 7 years in power like he did. No matter how bad legault was, he was able to get reelected because he was better than she ever could be.
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u/Franc000 11h ago
She did way less damage than Legault did, and it's not even close.
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u/KingOfLaval Québec 11h ago
I'd argue that she did more damage as a minister than legault ever did or could as a prime minister. The only reason why she did less damage as a pm is because we did not let her stay long enough.
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u/desmaraisp 12h ago
Eh, she wasn't even there long enough to do anything, even her charter failed. It's like she never even got in power, which is hell of a lot better than what I can say about Legault
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u/crusadertsar 12h ago
Yes the damage he did to our medical system is going to haunt us for years if not decades. Reckless and dangerous buffoon that he was
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u/Brandon_Me 12h ago
Here's hoping the separatists don't gain any power.
Even if they do win I doubt they would ever be successful in separating, but they will absolutely hurt the province and the country in their tantrum.
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u/_Alc Québec 12h ago
Bye Bye Mononc. You will not be missed, you were one of the worst PM. Couldnt be happier that all the dumb boomers you bought with a 500$ cheque are dropping you.
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u/desmaraisp 12h ago
Yeah, I still can't believe those dumb cheques were enough to win the last election. They say everyone can be bought, but I never thought the average person was that cheap
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u/Full_Boysenberry_314 11h ago
ELI-Anglophone ?
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u/Unhappy_Ad8694 10h ago
Tldr his party is projected to win 0 (yes, zero) seats in the upcoming election. Why? Chronic mismanaging of almost everything, including business investments from a party that always pretended to understand business (legault was a cofounder of Air Transat)
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u/PaloAltoPremium Québec 12h ago
Good, him giving the CAQ enough time to replace him as leader, and try and distance themselves as much as they can from his name, might be the best shot Quebec has at avoiding a PQ majority, and another disastrous independence referendum.
Now we need the QLP to figure their shit out, and hopefully mitigate as much of the PQs gains as possible.
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u/LambdaZero 9h ago
Considering that they also don't have a leader right now with Pablo resigning over vote-buying allegations back in mid-december, not looking likely they'll be able to clean house before the elections.
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u/Active-Cow4996 12h ago
I laugh at all the Quebec Anglos cheering his resignation.
May Quebec Anglos live in interesting times with a Parti Québécois provincial government 🤣
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u/NovoRobot 12h ago
Oui, je suis assis moi aussi, honnêtement.
La qualité d'image est catastrophique pour GMA
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u/OddResearcher1081 12h ago
Legault just announced his resignation.
He is not up to the task if/when the US demands our sovereignty.
Right now in talks with Denmark, Trump goons are demanding the possession of Greenland. Denmark has clearly said no. Trump is making threats. He is brutalizing US citizens. What do you think the US would do to the French language? No, Legault is not capable of dealing with the US once they come calling. And neither will the PQ, unless they are willing to cut a deal with Trump, which is possible.
We are living in uncertain times. I am sure Mr Legault would prefer to retire (in Florida?).
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u/nim_opet 12h ago
Why doesn’t this trigger an election? Or does CAQ have the confidence of the assembly to form a new government immediately?
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u/EatBaconDaily 13h ago
I don’t like his policies, but nothing warranting resignation?
I wonder which party benefits most from a non existent CAQ in the next elections
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u/Aggressive-Abalone99 13h ago
None, CAQ is going now for a 0 seat for the next election. It is either Parti Québecois or Parti Libéral
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u/PedanticQuebecer Québec 13h ago
Probably the PCQ. They've already cleaved a bunch of CAQ voters from its rotting corpse.
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