It is the Minister of Transport, Geneviève Guilbault, who would have the best response to give to her Prime Minister after he asked to dismantle the pro-Palestinian encampment established at McGill University.
Minister Guilbault could have told him: but, Mr. Legault, you do not have to play the sheriff-politician like Coderre, the Quebec state does not have to manage the operations of the Montreal police, as the The Quebec government does not have to manage public transport companies. I said it well last week, didn’t I?
She could even have added: let everyone take care of their “fern”.
Not his role
Here are the words used by the PM this Thursday, then repeated on Friday: “I expect the police to clear these illegal encampments, that’s what McGill asked.”
In English, more direct, he directly asked the police to dismantle the camps. Military man. While saying that he was going to “still let the police decide how and when they do that”.
You don’t need to be an investigator to understand that the PM is putting pressure on the police to get involved.
It’s obvious: the Prime Minister has no business calling for police intervention on a university campus. We are at the heart here of the separation of powers between the judiciary and the executive represented by the PM.
He should know this and his role requires exemplary behavior.
The Rubicon crossed
The Legault government is often unfairly accused of not caring about charters, due to their use of the derogation clause to protect Law 21 and Law 96 from legal challenges.
Some outright accuse him of attacking the rule of law.
These accusations are exaggerated and false. The exemption clause is entirely legal and legitimate.
But, in this case, by putting pressure on the police to act on a demonstration, which was ultimately peaceful according to testimonies, François Legault crossed a Rubicon.
Here, it’s not a question of what you think of Benjamin Netanyahu’s policies in Gaza. It’s also not a question of how you feel about encampment at McGill. Or if we agree with the wishes of the PM.
It is simply upholding the fact and the principle that it is not up to our Prime Minister to order a police operation.
Ministers, more exemplary
You have to see the images that come to us from American campuses to understand that caution is required. And rushing in is not the ideal solution.
This is not the first time that PM Legault has intervened clumsily on a delicate issue. And he adds fuel to the fire.
The irony is that very often, these ministers intervene in a more exemplary and more precise manner than their boss.
This is the case here. The exemplary Minister of Public Security, François Bonnardel, expressed this on X (twitter). “The encampment does not respect McGill’s internal policies and regulations. The police have a role to play in ensuring security and compliance with the rules. We have confidence in their work and their judgment.”
The PM clearly could and should have repeated these words.
