CAQ cabinet prorogues legislature until May 5
QUEBEC — Provincial MNAs will not be returning to work at the legislature until May in order to give the Coalition Avenir Québec government’s new leadership time to set up shop.
With the accord of the two leadership candidates, Christine Fréchette and Bernard Drainvile, Premier François Legault announced Wednesday that the cabinet had adopted a decree to prorogue the legislature.
MNAs were supposed to resume work Tuesday. Now they will not return for three weeks, May 5, when a whole new session will start.
“With the common accord of the two leadership candidates, cabinet has adopted a decree to prorogue the parliamentary session and convene a new session starting May 5,” Legault’s office said in a statement.
“This decision will allow the necessary time to teams to ensure an adequate transition following the election of a new premier.”
The decision comes as CAQ members this week are voting for a new leader, a successor to Legault, who announced in January he was stepping down after failing to jump-start the CAQ government.
The party will announce the winner Sunday afternoon in Drummondville. That person automatically becomes the next premier of Quebec.
The decision gives the winner the time to form a new cabinet and take his or her first decisions. It seems likely the swearing-in of the new premier and cabinet will take place next week.
The new premier will also want to deliver a fresh inaugural address to the legislature to put their stamp on the government.
If the legislature recesses for the summer on June 12 as planned, that means there are only five weeks left for it to sit before Quebec plunges into the pre-electoral period leading to a vote Oct. 5.
There remain about a dozen bills hanging on the order paper that have not yet been adopted.
Among them is Bill 1, creating a Quebec constitution; Bill Q-5, speeding up infrastructure projects; and Bill 23, making it easier to detain people with mental health issues.
It is possible for the new leadership, with a motion, to proceed with these bills, but it will be up to the new government to decide whether it wants to adopt them.
The 20,532 CAQ members started to vote Tuesday for the new leader. They have until Sunday at 3 p.m. to vote. The participation rate is already around 50 per cent.
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