(Quebec) The passes of arms between the City of Quebec and the government seemed to be a thing of the past Thursday, during a ceremony where Bruno Marchand and François Legault appeared all smiles in front of the journalists.
As is customary following Quebec elections, the Prime Minister was made honorary mayor of Quebec. The city’s charter provides that “every new premier of Quebec, as soon as possible following his swearing in, is received at the capital’s city hall to be made honorary mayor”.
“It all started here in Quebec. Champlain, 1608. It’s been 415 years. It started here, the history of our nation,” said François Legault in a speech. “And 415 years later, our nation is strong. We still speak French and we have our national capital here. »
In front of the journalists, the two elected officials appeared to spin the perfect agreement. The contrast was striking with the start of Bruno Marchand’s mandate. A year ago, in March 2022, the new mayor, stung by the statements of elected Caquistes from the Quebec region on the tramway project, had made a formal outing, asking the CAQ to “rise” .
Things have changed a lot since then. The tone has been much more conciliatory for months. Thursday’s ceremony was the most recent demonstration of this.
The Prime Minister arrived at City Hall on time and gave Mayor Marchand a warm hug. He launched a phrase regarding the good weather. “Everything is white outside! launched François Legault.
When Bruno Marchand signed the declaration making the Prime Minister the honorary mayor, the latter gave him a pat on the back, then launched “Do it right”. Then the two men gathered under a painting by Riopelle for a “courtesy interview”, that is to say a short conversation filmed by television cameras. “I too have a Riopelle,” launched François Legault, with a playful air.
The two men then began a one-hour meeting on their vision of the capital. “What we want to make of our national capital is a second metropolis,” recalled Mr. Legault. “We want to double the percentage of immigrants who come to Quebec, so that it represents at least the percentage that the population of Quebec represents. »
The Prime Minister and the Mayor of Quebec must answer questions from the media at the end of their meeting.
It will be interesting to see if they discussed the importance of Quebec as an official venue for meetings at the top of the state. The mayor of Quebec had denounced in January the decision of François Legault to hold meetings in Montreal rather than in the capital, in particular with Justin Trudeau and the leaders of the opposition parties.
