QUEBEC — François Legault bid a tearful farewell to the legislature Thursday, urging Quebecers to not surrender to cynicism and fear but to look to the future.
In his final speech to the National Assembly as premier — he remains the MNA for L’Assomption — Legault said serving as Quebec’s 32nd premier in history has been the honour of his life and he is proud of what he accomplished in two mandates in government.
But before fading out of Quebec’s top job, he said he wanted to give Quebecers including his successor three parting messages, including one about the future.
Legault, who turns 69 in May, urged Quebecers to avoid becoming jaded and fearful even if there is uncertainty in the world sparked by things like U.S. President Donald Trump and wars on the planet.
“Cynicism must not replace hope,” an emotional Legault said, capping a 20 minute parting address to MNAs in the red room of the legislature.
“Each person here has the responsibility to give hope, give hope to the next generation, to believe in the future; to believe in humanity, to believe in us.”
He said he had only one regret, that his father, who died at age 59, never got to see his son’s success, first as the founder of the Air Transat airline and later in politics.
“It is a day filled with emotion for me,” Legault said. “It has been seven and half years that I have been premier of Quebecers. It is the biggest honour I have had in my life. There are still days that I don’t realize it.”
In fact, Legault said he still suffers from “impostor syndrome,” given that he was just a little guy growing up in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue in a home of modest means and today is premier.
He nevertheless thanked his parents who helped pay for his education and encouraged him to follow his dreams.
He made no apologies for the kind of government he has run since 2018 and his vision of Quebec; one focused on nationalism, the economy and Quebec’s identity.
He said the reason Quebec francophones beat the “improbable” odds of surviving for 400 years as a people in North America is because they fought to protect their language, values and culture.
That battle, he said, has to continue no matter who eventually sits in the premier’s chair. Two candidates are running for the leadership of the Coalition Avenir Québec, Christine Fréchette and Bernard Drainville.
Both were present for the farewell — equally spaced three seats to the left and right of Legault’s chair.
“When I look at the situation in Montreal, I am worried,” Legault said. “I am worried because regardless of the criteria we use, whether it is the language used at home, at work or the public space, there is a decline.”
He said each MNA in the legislature has a responsibility to “reverse this decline.”
“It’s true that with new arrivals, our nation evolves,” he said. “But we have a right to hope that Quebec remains Quebec.”
He also seemed to warn Fréchette, who has distanced herself from the Legault government’s style of investing in businesses to stimulate the economy.
He said in a place as small as Quebec and with a shortage of entrepreneurs, the state will always to act to stimulate the economy.
But it was a day high in emotions for Legault and his government. Legault announced in January he was stepping down after having failed to lift his party and government out of the doghouse it finds itself in with voters.
Arriving at his office early Thursday morning, Legault, who was first elected in 1998 and is the dean of the legislature with 24 total years of service, told reporters that while he won’t miss politics he will miss the people who have helped him all these years.
“Obviously life is a lot of relationships with people so, this is the hardest part,” Legault said addressing the media. “It is leaving these people and that includes you too. I want to wish you all good luck, all of you.”
Legault then took a moment to shake the hands of every reporter and camera person in the hallway.
Arriving in the red room, he got a standing ovation after which friends and foes paid tribute to Legault for his nearly 28 years of public service. Many were seen brushing aside tears during the speeches.
Up first was Legault’s veteran house leader and justice minister, Simon Jolin-Barrette. Normally calm and collected, Jolin-Barrette choked with emotion and tears from the start of his remarks.
He said Legault had been a mentor to him and he won’t forget it.
“It has been a veritable privilege to serve beside you for the Quebec nation,” Jolin-Barrette said. “Know that you will always have ally in me to continue to defend our ideals.”
Liberal parliamentary leader André Fortin told the house he was a CEGEP student when Legault launched into politics in 1998. He said he and his friends were impressed that Lucien Bouchard, then premier, had bagged Legault the businessman to enter politics.
He said Legault did not choose an easy path in deciding to found a completely new political party, the CAQ, in 2011. He then went on to form two majority governments, in 2018 and 2022.
But he said many Quebecers will remember Legault as the man they turned to during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, a job that was particularly difficult. He said Legault faced the challenge of having to deliver plenty of bad news at the same time as keeping moral up in a scared people.
“The premier in this period gave his all and the best of himself to Quebecers in this difficult period, and for this we are grateful,” Fortin said as Legault looked on.
Québec solidaire co-spokesperson Ruba Ghazal said Quebec is lucky Legault chose public life, a job few people today would consider.
“Politics is far from a tranquil river,” Ghazal said. “It requires great personal sacrifice. It’s demanding, you get hurt, it’s unpredictable and yet you have devoted a great part of your life to this.
“You deserve to be congratulated.”
Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said despite their different visions, nobody doubts Legault’s profound love of Quebec.
“Everything stems from that,” St-Pierre Plamondon said.
But when St-Pierre Plamondon turned his tribute more political and questioned exactly what the CAQ’s “third way” accomplished in terms of gains from Ottawa for Quebec, Legault had an answer.
Legault quoted words used by Montreal Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis at post-game news conferences.
“You have to take what the game gives you,” Legault responded.
Legault then exited the red room to return to his office. As a tribute, about 100 political staffers and employees lined the halls in a celebratory tunnel cheering and clapping as Legault and his wife, Isabelle Brais, walked by.
Legault, however, leaves a party and government clinging to life.
The most recent Léger poll of provincial voting intentions pegged support for the CAQ at nine per cent, the same level as Québec solidaire.
Had an election been held this week, the CAQ would have been wiped from the map, winning no seats, polling analysts say.
It is quite the fall from grace. After the CAQ took power in 2018, it had high public support, further bolstered to historic levels during the COVID-19 pandemic. In June 2020, 77 per cent of Quebecers approved of Legault’s government.
While in the past Legault regularly topped out the Angus Reid evaluation of support of Canadian premiers, he ends his time as premier last in the ranks with a 26 per cent approval rating and a 67 per cent disapproval rating among Quebec voters.
His support slipped back to normal levels around the October 2022 election, which the CAQ nevertheless won, forming a second majority government.
At the time, analysts wrote that despite the odds Legault has made his mark in Quebec history by convincing Quebecers, twice, to vote for his brand of economic and identity nationalism and end their habit of voting either Liberal or PQ.
But as of the spring of 2023, the downward trend in support often seen in a second mandate set in.
Voter discontent over such decisions as cancelling a third auto link between Quebec City and Lévis and controversial moves such as spending millions of dollars to bring the L.A. Kings to Quebec City stirred up anger that spread throughout Quebec.
That was followed by five consecutive byelection losses including the most recent one in Chicoutimi on Feb. 23. At the same time cabinet ministers and MNAs started quitting the party for various reasons.
Legault has one more week as premier of Quebec. On April 12, about 20,000 CAQ members will select a new leader who automatically assumes the title of Quebec premier.
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