Paul St-Pierre Plamondon was sworn in as Quebec’s 34th premier Wednesday, bringing the sovereigntist Parti Québécois back to power after more than a decade.
After swearing to exercise his functions with honesty and justice, St-Pierre Plamondon unveiled the ministers who will make up his cabinet during a ceremony in the National Assembly’s Red Room, attended by former premiers, supporters and family.
The premier named 22 ministers, along with a president and whip. The cabinet includes nine women and 14 men, including St-Pierre Plamondon, and is smaller than the previous Coalition Avenir Québec cabinet (CAQ), which had 28 ministers.
St-Pierre Plamondon has said the smaller cabinet reflects his campaign pledge to reduce the size of government, cut bureaucracy and rein in public spending. He has also pledged to tackle Quebec’s deficit and prepare for a promised referendum on independence.
“Look at the quality of my team. We were only three (legislature members) last election,” St-Pierre Plamondon said.
“I am convinced that, as individuals and as a people, we must always envision the best. And we must never, ever accept being told that everything is lost or that we aren’t good enough.”
The PQ won 59 seats in the Oct. 5 provincial election, short of the 64 needed for a majority. Recounts are taking place in two ridings where PQ candidates finished second, potentially bringing the party closer to a majority.
With the PQ forming a minority government, Catherine Gentilcore will take on several key roles. The 41-year-old was named deputy premier, immigration minister, government parliamentary leader and minister responsible for Quebec independence.
She will also be responsible for negotiating with opposition parties, whose support will be needed for the government to pass legislation.
Marie-Karlynn Laflamme was named health minister. A former vice-rector at the Université du Québec à Chicoutimi who has also worked as a manager in the health system, she will be tasked with carrying out the PQ’s promise to abolish Santé Québec.
Several ministers will oversee multiple portfolios, including Marie-Claude Sarrazin, a longtime lawyer who served as a prosecutor during the Gallant commission into the SAAQclic fiasco.
Sarrazin was named justice minister and will also oversee interprovincial relations, relations with anglophone Quebecers, the fight against racism, LGBTQ+ issues, access to information and secularism.
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St-Pierre Plamondon also turned to experienced PQ members for some key portfolios.
Joël Arseneau will serve as education minister, while Nicolas Marceau returns as finance minister, a role he held from 2012 to 2014 under former premier Pauline Marois.
Pascal Bérubé was named culture minister, while Alain Therrien, who served with both the PQ and the Bloc Québécois in Ottawa, will be president of the treasury board.
Nicolas Girard was named transport minister. He has worked for public transit agencies in Montreal and Quebec City.
Stéphane Paquet will be responsible for the economy and the island of Montreal. He and St-Pierre Plamondon are the PQ’s two elected members on the island.
Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada attended the ceremony and said she believes the city will be well represented.
“We have the premier (who is elected in the riding of Camille-Laurin, in Montreal) and we have someone on the east part of Montreal, so I feel we have a government that will listen to what’s going on in Montreal,” she said.
Former Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe attended the ceremony and offered reporters a succinct assessment of the task facing the new government. “When you govern, you have to govern well. Period,” he said.
Former PQ leader Pierre Karl Péladeau was also there.
“A lot of people were considering the PQ dead,” he said. “The PQ will never die.”
St-Pierre Plamondon appointed himself minister responsible for homelessness and said addressing the issue will be an immediate priority. He said his first order of business will be to make money available to municipalities to prepare to support unhoused people this winter.
He also created a position dedicated to government efficiency, appointing former Amos, Que., mayor and Survivor Quebec contestant Sébastien D’Astous to the role.
Under the Balanced Budget Act and the government’s current fiscal plan, Quebec must eliminate its multi-billion-dollar deficit by 2030. The PQ has also pledged to freeze provincial legislators’ salaries until the budget is balanced.
St-Pierre Plamondon has repeatedly promised to do some “much-needed housekeeping” and “reduce wasteful spending” before focusing on sovereignty. He has promised to hold a referendum on Quebec independence once U.S. President Donald Trump is out of the White House.
“Quebec’s independence is an ambitious and demanding undertaking,” St-Pierre Plamondon told his ministers. “We must restore Quebecers’ desire to dream and take initiative. We must rediscover the ambition to build and participate in things greater than ourselves.”
For the first time in the province’s history, Quebec Lt.-Gov. Manon Jeannotte was not present at the swearing-in ceremony, at St-Pierre Plamondon’s request. The government’s general secretary presided over the ceremony, and Jeannotte agreed to sign appointment documents at her office immediately afterward.
PQ elected representatives were sworn in last week, pledging allegiance to the people of Quebec rather than the King, following a 2022 change to the legislature’s rules prompted by St-Pierre Plamondon’s refusal to swear allegiance to the monarch. Liberal and Québec solidaire representatives followed suit.
St-Pierre Plamondon also made several references during the ceremony to Marois, who was in attendance.
Marois, who led a PQ minority government from 2012 to 2014, said St-Pierre Plamondon’s willingness to draw from opposition parties’ platforms could help his minority government.
“(St-Pierre Plamondon) said he would take inspiration from other parties’ programs, which I think will make it easier to get things done,” she said.
Marois is also set to give the new PQ legislature members a workshop in the coming days.
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