Two years after qualifying The “worst minister” of the national capital is Genevieve GuilbaultClaude Villeneuve, the leader of the opposition at Quebec City Hall, backed down and chose to bestow the prestigious title on current minister Jonathan Julien.
“I owe it to myself to take back what Mrs Guilbault qualifies as the worst minister in the history of the national capital. Actually, it's because I found something worse. Our expectations were very high when Mr. Julian arrived. I think he wants to protect the region, but this is like admitting powerlessness,” he lamented at a press conference on Tuesday.
Mr. Describing Julian's performance as “pathetic”, Mr. Villeneuve spoke of a “zero score” from the minister in the Quebec region.
In the National Assembly, Minister Jonathan Julian responded to the outburst with a burst of laughter. “I've always found Genevieve (Guilbault) to be very good. Compared to Genevieve, it's an honor for me,” he said, vowing to “do (his) best” and work “morning, noon and night for the capital”.
Quebec First leader Mayor Marchant also lamented that it took so long to react to the fact that the summit between Prime Ministers Legault and Trudeau took place in Montreal and not Quebec.
“Quebec has less influence because its mayor is held in low esteem by the Quebec government,” he lamented.
For his part, Patrick Paquette, head of the Quebec priorities committee, thought it was “easy” to blame the Marchant administration for failing to secure gains for Quebec. “The important thing is to be ready to take available credits when they come out in the provincial budget,” he declared.
Marchant raises his voice
For his part, Quebec's mayor Bruno Marchant “requested” that the next meeting of Quebec and Canada's prime ministers, scheduled for June, be held in Quebec. “The next (meeting) should be held in Quebec. Not just the next one. Next,” he emphasized.
Mayor Marchand cited the dates and locations of seven meetings between M.M. Legault and Trudeau, organized since October 2018, have all taken place outside of Quebec.
“The list I gave you doesn't prove the exception, but it proves the rule. It's against the law (in the national capital). These kinds of important meetings should be held in Quebec,” he said, acknowledging that there could be exceptions linked to everyone's agendas.
Reaction to the National Assembly
In the National Assembly, Unity deputy Etienne Grandmont wanted the minister responsible for the national capital to refrain from “pronouncing what is bad or what is good”.
“I don't know if it's a competition between the two,” he said. […] But it is true that in both cases, for five years, there was nothing […] This is provided in the national capital: no public transport plan, no major interesting project for the city. Looks like we're abandoning the national capital.
In collaboration with Marc-Andre Gagnon and Dominique Lelièvre
