premier legault can't dodge vaccine passport debate: anglade
the quebec liberal party leader spoke at a youth wing convention with about 100 in-person delegates and others following along online.
aug 15 2021
3 minute read
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by: philip authier
trois-rivières — premier françois legault can’t dodge debates with other political parties about the way his government is handling the fourth wave of covid-19 , the liberal leader says.
“this is a democracy and we need to conduct debates,” dominique anglade said saturday. “generally speaking, this is the mindset he should have.
“unfortunately there are a number of debates which we were not able to have in the last few months because the caq refused. an example of that is the (vaccine) passport. we should have had the debate months ago. we asked for it in may and they didn’t want to go ahead.”
anglade made the comment a few days after legault balked at opposition calls for a parliamentary committee to debate the merits of the government’s covid-19 measures, including the creation of vaccine passports for quebecers.
legault said he did not want to create a platform for conspiracy theorists to spread false information about vaccination. he insisted that quebecers support the idea and he believes he has all the legitimacy he needs to create the system.
the liberal, québec solidaire and parti québécois opposition parties disagree and say experts need to be heard before proceeding.
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on saturday, thousands of people marched in the streets of montreal to protest the passport plan.
anglade made the comments arriving for a one-day liberal youth wing policy convention held at the cégep de trois-rivières.
wrapping up the convention at a news conference later in the day, anglade said she’s concerned about what she saw in montreal.
“the reality is we have two options: either we go back in lockdown or we’re going to allow people that have been vaccinated to keep their freedom,” anglade said.
“you want to make sure that people understand. you don’t want to be in a situation where people get really aggressive about the situation. i certainly hope we’re going to be able to dialogue with everybody and keep our cool.”
the convention made history of sorts. it is the first provincial political event in 18 months of pandemic where party members are physically present. to respect public health distancing rules, the liberals opted for a hybrid format, with about 100 people in the hall and another 450 following online.
delegates wore masks and were asked to show proof of double vaccination at the door. that included anglade, who cheerfully complied.
it is the first political event anglade has attended in person since becoming leader in may 2020.
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“we’ve done everything in our power to follow the rules and go beyond that,” anglade said.
the theme of the convention was the family. after an intense debate, delegates voted 22-16 in favour of a four-day workweek in quebec without anyone experiencing a drop in pay.
the maximum number of hours a person could work per week would go from 40 to 32. employers would pay the difference with the help of government.
the motion was watered down somewhat at the last minute with liberals saying pilot projects should be conducted before the plan is put in place. it has not been costed.
the youth wing hopes it will become the policy of the whole party and eventually be part of a liberal election program.
the convention marked a changing of the guard in the youth wing with president frédérique lavoie-gamache replaced by gabriel ahmad who pledged to reinvigorate the youth wing.
he said québec solidaire has had too easy a time on university and cegep campuses and the liberal have to find a way back into the student environment.
the party itself is at a crossroads, faring badly with quebec francophones and soft nationalists who are happy to park their votes with the coalition avenir québec.
if the liberals are worried about their traditional support in the english-speaking community it was not apparent on the weekend. barely a word of english was heard at the convention except one sentence in anglade’s closing speech.
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the party has also yet to hold a membership debate about its controversial new language policy which mirrors many of the caq’s own ideas included in bill 96 which goes before a committee of the house this fall.
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