Libman: Fréchette breaks the facade on CAQ 2.0

Christine Fréchette has been trying to put a fresh face on a Coalition Avenir Québec government nearing the end of its two-term administration under François Legault that had dramatically fallen out of favour with voters. But her mask came crashing to the floor this week.

As the National Assembly resumed sitting, Fréchette’s inaugural address as premier and legislative priorities indicate that she incarnates the same old CAQ with the same old political games and cynical attempts at manipulating the population with language and identity issues, to distract from its failures. 

The first item on her legislative agenda was renewing the constitutional notwithstanding clause to extend the shielding of language law Bill 96 from Charter of Rights challenges. The law was passed in 2022, so the clause — which has a five-year shelf-life — didn’t have to be re-invoked for another year. As if this is the top priority for Quebecers right now. 

This is also political theatre to put pressure on the Liberal opposition and its leader Charles Milliard, who recently stumbled on the tricky language issue, flip-flopping on whether the Liberals would eventually renew the clause if elected.

Christine Fréchette’s inaugural address to the National Assembly as premier contained not a single reference to Quebec anglophones, notes Robert Libman. Francis Vachon / National Post

Milliard, who I suggested last week had duffed in attempts to placate both sides, showed more courage this week with a decisive response, maintaining that Bill 96 hampers Quebec businesses and does nothing to improve the status of French. Liberal parliamentary leader André Fortin called the CAQ game “a cosmetic measure to ensure we talk about something other than the CAQ’s record over the last seven years.” 

Fréchette brought up how former premier Robert Bourassa said the notwithstanding clause “gives us the legal security that we need to apply a program that reflects the will of most Quebecers.” However, unlike the CAQ, Bourassa did not use the clause pre-emptively; he waited for the courts to pronounce — and then invoked it as a last resort to maintain language legislation.

It is shameful and insidious how the notwithstanding clause has become for many Quebec nationalists synonymous with the protection of French — an implement to be used by government to cavalierly suspend fundamental freedoms without judicial review. 

It is also terribly disturbing how Quebec’s anglophone community — representing almost 15 per cent of the population, and a fundamental constituency of Montreal Island (Quebec’s economic engine) — has become so politically marginalized over the past several years at all levels of government, particularly during the CAQ reign. The community’s history, contributions and own efforts to speak and protect French are widely ignored. Minimizing or beating down the community has become an accepted political imperative. 

Fréchette’s nearly hour-long address contained not a single reference to Quebec anglophones. Even former Parti Québécois premier Pauline Marois in her 2012 inaugural speech said: “History shows us that the anglophone community constitutes an important part of who we are. My government will thus continue to protect the rights of members of this community, which is part of the Quebec nation.”

Many had hoped Fréchette would prove to be more pragmatic on language and identity, and more tolerant toward religious minorities and immigrants. Nonsense. This week in question period she acknowledged that immigration is partly to blame for the housing crisis.

Fréchette’s speech trumpeted how Quebec is experiencing a breath of fresh air, with new decisions, projects, announcements and actions undertaken — promising real change. She repeated several times “our new government” and Quebec’s new vision and new ambitions. I’m sure her mentor Legault hasn’t been thrilled with the view of the chassis of the bus she’s thrown him under, with a friendly smile.

Fréchette has virtually the same CAQ team behind her and almost identical cabinet colleagues with the same legislative agenda. And, it now appears, the same nasty mean streak when it comes to “les autres” — those in Quebec who are not like “us.” Fair-minded Quebecers should see right through this act.

Robert Libman is an architect and planning consultant who has served as Equality Party leader and MNA, mayor of Côte-St-Luc and a member of the Montreal executive committee. 

Robert Libman, Special to the Montreal Gazette

Robert Libman is an architect and planning consultant who has served as Equality Party leader and MNA, mayor of Côte-St-Luc and a member of the Montreal executive committee.

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