Quebec's new Premier Fréchette is pushing forward with tax cuts, business reforms, and domestic violence legislation to revitalize her party's image ahead of the October election. Despite her efforts, her party faces an uphill battle after losing popularity under her predecessor.
’s new Premier has hit the ground running with just a few months left to distance herself from her predecessor François Legault, and to convince voters her government still has something to offer.in Ottawa and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in Washington, seeking to strengthen ties outside the province.
She has cut taxes for businesses and promised new legislation to protect women from domestic violence. Faced with the Herculean task of bringing her party back from the brink of oblivion on the eve of an election, Ms. Fréchette has, by her own account, been in “hyperactive mode. ” On Tuesday, she opened a new session at Quebec’s National Assembly, saying the province “has a new lease on life.
” The legislature was prorogued shortly before Ms. Fréchette won the leadership of the Coalition Avenir Québec at a convention in April.address, Ms. Fréchette said her top priorities will be the cost of living and the economy, citing a climate of instability that has reigned since the re-election of U.S. President Donald Trump.
“In the face of the prevailing uncertainty, we have chosen to build the future and move forward,” she said. Ms. Fréchette promised new measures to tackle the rising cost of living and to cut red tape for Quebec businesses. Last week, she announced a tax cut of one percentage point for roughly 75,000 small and medium-sized businesses across the province.
However, she will have only five weeks to carry out her legislative agenda before the National Assembly rises for the summer, marking the unofficial start of campaign season for an election set for October. It seems unlikely that her performance, no matter how strong, will entirely reverse the fortunes of a party whose popularity collapsed under Mr. Legault’s leadership and which is at risk of losing every one of its seats.
Opposition parties insist she’s merely a new face upholding the status quo. But with new leaders at the helm of the CAQ and the opposition Liberals, “there’s a lot of volatility right now among Quebec voters,” said Éric Montigny, a professor of political science at Laval University.
“A window of opportunity has opened, and people are listening. ” Ms. Fréchette’s early trips to Ottawa and Washington seemed calibrated to display a desire to forge new connections outside Quebec, particularly as trade talks loom with the United States.
“We need to work more closely with the federal government to ensure that our interests are properly represented,” she said Tuesday. Mr. Legault, who was first elected premier in 2018, often took a combative position in his dealings with the federal government, including demands for more control over immigration. But Ms. Fréchette appears to have reconsidered that approach, as Mr. Carney enjoys widespread popularity in Quebec.
Ahead of her speech, Deputy Premier Ian Lafrenière told reporters there is a “change in tone” in Quebec’s relationship with Ottawa. Still, the new Premier is trying not to stray too far from her party’s nationalist bona fides. On Tuesday, she announced that her first new bill will renew the notwithstanding clause on Bill 96, the CAQ’s signature language law. The clause shields the law from constitutional challenges, and must be renewed every five years.
It is set to expire in 2027. Liberal Leader in February, dismissed the move as a “political tactic,” and accused the CAQ of “manipulating” Quebeckers on questions of identity. Quebec Liberal Party Leader Charles Milliard gives remarks at the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal, in Montreal on May 1.
“Is this really Ms. Fréchette’s top priority? ” he said in a video posted to social media. The Premier also said she wants to pass a Quebec constitution that has sparked heavy opposition. The bill defines a set of “founding principles,” including secularism and equality between men and women, and aims to boost Quebec’s autonomy within Canada.
Critics say it was drafted without consultation. But Ms. Fréchette is also working to leave her own mark on the province, including a promise to table new legislation that would give women who fear for their safety the right to know whether their partner has a history of domestic violence. The bill is in response to a spate of femicides that have shaken the province this year.
The new Premier is establishing herself as “very studious and very composed,” Prof. Montigny said. Still, opposition leaders are quick to dismiss Ms. Fréchette’s leadership as a superficial change to a government on its last legs.
“The CAQ is the same party,” Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon told reporters on Tuesday. “It is a party that is nearing the end of its term. ”
Quebec Election Premier Fréchette Coalition Avenir Québec Tax Cuts Domestic Violence Legislation
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