It looks like it.
Heard this week: the Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Geneviève Guilbault, who does not find that ensuring the vitality of public transport is part of the State’s mission.
She said it on Wednesday.
On Thursday she clarified that she was only talking about the practical management of public transport and that the State retained a certain strategic role. But the impact of this addition was lost when Prime Minister François Legault himself got involved, treating the mayors as beggars. In this case, we understood, it is they who must be blamed for the financial setbacks of these public services, which are more essential than ever. Not at the Coalition Avenir Québec.
Also this week, the Minister of the Economy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, said that if a significant gap of 13% persists between the wealth of Ontario and that of Quebec, it is the fault of Quebecers themselves. “Not productive enough.”
The Minister of the Economy, Pierre Fitzgibbon (Patrick Sanfaçon/Archives La Presse)
Also this week, we learned that Hydro-Québec does not consider that the management of electrical terminals, for cars, is part of its responsibilities, as a monopoly. The state-owned company is preparing to leave everything to the private sector by 2030. The responsibilities linked to the monopoly, apparently, do not concern the guarantee of access to electrical terminals for those living in low-density regions where said Terminals may not be profitable and therefore interesting for the private sector. Attention those who would like to drive electric in these sectors.
And again this week, there was this surprising scene in a parliamentary committee in Quebec, where closely followed by an Opposition MP, the Liberal André Fortin, the Minister of Health Christian Dubé admitted that making an appointment with a doctor is sometimes impossible. “It happens regularly,” he replied. Whose fault is it this time? To the doctors. Apparently they should offer more appointments.
The Minister of Health, Christian Dubé (Edouard Plante-Fréchette/Archives La Presse)
And then, we should not forget this remarkable quote from the press secretary of the Minister of Housing, France-Élène Duranceau: “Am I still ghosting her?”, speaking of a journalist from There Canadian Presswho wanted to know if the minister considered the right to housing as a fundamental individual right.
It seems that it’s not just teenagers snubbing their parents or flirtatious cads on romantic apps who are “ghosting.” There are also the press officers of the CAQ government, who see it as a professional strategy.
Other news that forces us to ask ourselves what the government is doing to take on its governing responsibilities?
The devastating report from the Commissioner for Sustainable Development, tabled Thursday in the National Assembly.
We learn, roughly speaking, that the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food does nothing to protect agricultural land which is directly threatened by soil degradation, even though this land is essential to ensure a certain food autonomy in the province. And what’s more, the ministry does not do this safeguarding and protection work, even though it has known the real threats for years.
And we should especially not forget what we learned regarding school absenteeism, which reached 10% at the beginning of April, a rate almost comparable to what we saw during the pandemic. This time, the Minister of Education Bernard Drainville blamed the parents of these students. “I’m not trying to dig in parents’ hands, but it’s a fact,” said the minister. It’s factual. Parents have a very important role to play.”
The Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville (Frédéric Matte/Archives Le Soleil)
•••••
But what do the politicians in Quebec do with their long weeks, if they are ultimately not responsible for resolving all these problems?
Much has been said this week about the response from the Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility regarding the apparent abdication of the provincial government’s role in the development of public transportation. But it is almost everywhere across the ministries that this government team seems to let the days go by without a course, without a rudder, without a flight plan.
And this, without even taking the time to respond to journalists!
For Quebec to develop in a coherent, modern and sustainable way, it is not on those who have political power, nor on their plans, that we must count, we were sent the message.
It’s more about cities, doctors, private enterprise, productive citizens, auditors, not forgetting parents.
Find a solution to the crises in health, education, the environment, improve our standard of living, our wealth? Where were we in the head to think that our elected officials had anything to do with it?
