No reshuffle at the start of January, says Legault

Contrary to rumors, François Legault will not reshuffle the cards of his Cabinet at the beginning of January.

The confirmation came on Friday from the main party during an end-of-year interview given to the show Midi infoon ICI Première.

His ministers should therefore remain in office. And run again in 2026. Because at present, Mr. Legault says he has no no indication that some of them could imitate Christian Dubé and make it known that they will leave politics at the end of their mandate.

The announcement from the Minister of Health, last Sunday on the set of the show Everyone is talking about itdid not surprise him. For me, it was always clear that Christian would not return for another mandatedeclared Mr. Legault.

The announced departure of Mr. Dubé will be added to that already noted of Pierre Fitzgibbon, who left the boat last September. The partial aimed at replacing it in Terrebonne must be held no later than March. On Friday, however, Mr. Legault was careful not to show his cards. It will be by Marchhe said, laconicly.

Its priority for 2025 will instead be to escape the threat of 25% customs tariffs brandished by the president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, who will take office on January 20.

According to him, Canada would have every advantage in renegotiating theACEthe free trade agreement that replaced theALENA during Mr. Trump’s first term in the White House, which should in any case be reopened in 2026.

In business, uncertainty is almost as serious as tariffsunderlined Mr. Legault on Friday, adding that the repercussions of Donald Trump’s threats were already being felt.

The uncertainty over the tariffs that could arrive in the 2026 revision means that companies – and Doug Ford tells me that it is the same thing in Ontario – no longer invest in Canada, in Quebeche argued.

Hence the interest, according to him, of resolve this as quickly as possible. Especially since last time, it wasn’t easy to negotiate the revisionrecalls Mr. Legault.

Macron explained to Trump who he was

The Prime Minister, who spoke with Donald Trump last Saturday on the sidelines of the reopening of Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral, also admitted to Alec Castonguay’s microphone that the President-elect of the United States did not really know who he was. was before meeting him.

He asked me, at one point: “Are you in the same party as Justin Trudeau?” And it was Emmanuel Macron who replied: “No, not at all. François is a businessman, and he is in a party that has a different position on immigration than Justin Trudeau.”

The discussion that followed, during which Donald Trump allegedly told François Legault that his threat of tariffs might not be carried out if Canada managed to “secure its borders”, focused mainly on the illegal immigrantssaid the Prime Minister on Friday.

More than [sur] the drughe continued, referring to Donald Trump’s criticism of fentanyl smuggling. If Canada has indeed become a major producer and exporter of this synthetic drug, its situation is incomparable with that of Mexico in terms of seizures by American authorities.

To face the threat from Donald Trump, the Trudeau government presented a plan to the provinces on Wednesday. But François Legault remained hungry. The Prime Minister asks Ottawa in particular to require, before issuing a visa, a return plane ticket to the country of origin of the applicant.

Another priority for François Legault for 2025: ensuring that the agreement in principle on Churchill Falls and Gull Island signed Thursday with the government of Newfoundland and Labrador materializes, an agreement on the sidelines of which he will have to negotiate with the Innus of the North Shore to build new transportation lines.

On this subject, the Prime Minister says he is hopeful of convincing his First Nations interlocutors to move forward with this project.

Moreover, talks are already underway with the Innu regarding the raising of the turbines of the Manic-Outardes hydroelectric complex and with wind projects. very importanthe mentioned.

So, I would say that the negotiations regarding the transmission line [entre Gull Island et La Romaine]it is small compared to what we are currently negotiating, indicated Mr. Legault. Then I am confident that we will be able to announce great news with the community in the next year.