Fitzgibbon throws in the towel
Superminister Pierre Fitzgibbon has handed in his resignation. Until Tuesday, Fitzgibbon was minister of the economy, of innovation and energy, minister responsible for regional economic development, minister responsible for Montreal and MNA for Terrebonne. CBC notes almost in passing that “Fitzgibbon was the subject of six ethics investigations related to contracts awarded to companies he had business ties with.”
Fitzgibbon will also be a loss to the editorial cartoonists of Quebec.
Paul Journet is asking who will replace him. Which five people, you might ask instead. Or take bets on which international corporation Fitz will be working for next.
Fitzgibbon’s official announcement was given out in Rimouski on Wednesday morning during a CAQ caucus meeting: Politics is never easy.
Joey 16:55 on 2024-09-03 Permalink
Those ethics investigations never amounted to anything, eh? He was planning on resigning around Xmas but the premier forced him to quit now; the National Assembly will be studying (and, presumably, passing) his energy reform bill and Legault may have decided he wanted someone else at the helm to steer it through the legislative process – which is, of course, basically a done deal given the CAQ majority. Fitz was clear he wasn’t going to run again and, having wrested control over the future of Quebec’s energy policy (Northvolt, HQ production increase, the threat of rising electricity prices, the neutralization of Sophie Brooch), he didn’t have much left to accomplish in government.
Ian 07:36 on 2024-09-04 Permalink
There was some talk on CBC radio this morning (Daybreak) that he may have been asked to leave for openly contradicting Legault on several fronts including the necessity of raising hydro fees to pay for the transition projects the CAQ government has embarked upon. He also openly supported bulding more transit infrastructure to reduce the number of cars on the road, as without doing so the goal of carbon neutrality becomes that much harder to reach – in open opposition to CAQ disinterest in funding public transit infra. Definitely a big picture guy and not easy to rein in like the sycophants Legault clearly prefers.
Kate 10:07 on 2024-09-04 Permalink
That all makes sense, Ian. It will be interesting to see the direction the CAQ takes on several issues before the next election, now that Fitzgibbon is gone.