Legault on Quebec’s
place in the World

CAQ leader woos CORIM audience with innovative ideas

By Jean-Luc Burlone

First published March 24 2018

At the CORIM luncheon of March 19, François Legault’s conference was applauded with a standing ovation from a large part of the audience. Delivering his speech by heart, the leader of the CAQ has clearly demonstrated his determination to become the next premier of Quebec.

According to François Legault, the place of Quebec in the world starts with its place in Canada where the leader of the CAQ intends to launch discussions with the province of Ontario and the Atlantic provinces in view of forging an association to manage the supply and demand of energy (Alliance énergétique). These provinces represent 64% of the Canadian GDP and the association would enable an increased number of transmission lines to carry Québec electricity to Canadian provinces and American states.

“Quebec must be able to afford its ambitions” remains François Legault’s leitmotif, while the province continues to be dependent on Canada’s equalization system for up to $11 billion. Considering various possibilities, trade has been selected as the main tool to increase Quebec’s wealth. Hence, commercial links will be strengthened with various levels of governments in the United States, the main business partner of Quebec.

Delivering his speech by heart, the leader of the CAQ has clearly demonstrated his determination to become the next premier of Quebec.

Among other export markets, the recent free trade agreement between Canada and Europe will facilitate diversification towards European markets. Moreover, Quebec delegations will be required to further support exports from Quebec’s firms towards all continents. (Although not mentioned, the new agreement between Canada and ten Asian countries (TPP-1) will probably be exploited in spite of the distance.)

Tourism as well is perceived as a form of trade that deserves to be farthered by promoting the beautiful regions of Québec. Similarly, the CAQ sees the East End of Montréal as an area to be proposed to incoming firms that would appreciate a location with a view of the river. It is also worth mentioning that Investments Québec will be modified as an institution, allowing scouting for private investors on the international scene.

These few points reveal the thoughtful vision of the CAQ. Its leader has the necessary experience, and his resume testifies to his capacity to reach the stated objectives and to generate wealth for the province.

By dint of hard work, François Legault has built his political party based on pragmatism rather than ideology. He has good arguments in his favour, but hearts are more elusive than brains. As Blaise Pascal warned, “There are two forms of excess: to exclude reason and to admit nothing but reason.

Images: Sylvie-Ann Paré

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