"Quebecer, I understood you", This is in essence what Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was quick to declare on the night of his skimpy victory on October 21. An address for the occasion: his party, the Liberal Party of Canada, hoped to take advantage of the weakening of the New Democratic Party (NDP, social democrat) to do better than in 2015 in the province of Quebec, where it had won in 40 constituencies (out of 78).
However, it was the Bloc Québécois separatists who tripled their contingent of members, with 32 elected officials sent to the House of Commons, to the detriment of the Liberals, among others, who lost 5 seats. "My dear Quebecers, had therefore assured Justin Trudeau, from his first speech, I heard your message, you want to keep moving with us but you also want to make sure that Quebec's voice carries even more to Ottawa. I give you my word. "
The establishment of the Trudeau 2 government in November was the first sign of the importance the Prime Minister now attaches to La Belle Province. Out of 36 ministers, 10 are from Quebec, some of them with large portfolios. François-Philippe Champagne inherits from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Quebec MP Jean-Yves Duclos is appointed President of the Treasury Board (the equivalent of the French budget ministry). A longtime personal friend of Justin Trudeau, Marc Miller, is appointed to Indigenous Services, a declared priority of this second term.
The influential ecologist Steven Guilbeault, co-founder of the Quebec environmental organization Equiterre, elected under the Liberal banner in October, was not selected as Minister of the Environment so as not to poison already complicated relations with western Canada. an oil country, but he nevertheless entered government, where he was responsible for Canadian heritage.
Another significant gesture for Quebecers: Justin Trudeau resolved to resuscitate a position he had not wanted in 2015, that of lieutenant for Quebec. The function falls to Montrealer Pablo Rodriguez. He will be the point of contact between Ottawa and the government of Quebec, headed for a year by François Legault, a prime minister of center right, moderate nationalist, very careful about the respect of his provincial competences.
Voters tank
If Justin Trudeau shows so much respect for the province, it is because he relies on Quebecers in two ways. At the head of a minority government, he needs neutrality if not the support of the elected members of the Bloc Québécois in the House of Commons to get his laws passed. Then, in the event of early elections likely to be called at any time, it is in Quebec that there is its reservoir of voter gain and not in the Western provinces, some of which have also crossed out the Liberal elected off the map in the last election (Alberta, Saskatchewan). Its challenge stems from the fact that, Quebecer himself and elected from Montreal, the Prime Minister of the federal government must make us forget that he first lives as a Canadian, when the general feeling in Quebec is expressed in reverse, Quebecer before being Canadian.
