QUEBEC - The Council on the Status of Women (CSF) is not politically independent, according to Premier Pauline Marois, a stance she has taken in response to a majority vote held Wednesday in the National Assembly reaffirming the autonomy of the group.
Marois noted that the term “independence” appears nowhere in the text of what was voted on in the assembly Wednesday.
The President of the Council on the Status of Women, Julie Miville-Dechêne, slammed the PQ last week for appointing four new members, all of whom support the PQ's proposed values charter.
MNAs voted 63 to 43 to postpone the appointments Wednesday, but the Minister responsible for Status of Women, Agnès Maltais, indicated that she was not beholden to the vote.
Liberal Opposition House Leader Pierre Moreau accused Maltais Thursday of having “tossed a decision made by the National Assembly right into the garbage,” and said that she “infiltrated an institution that is completely independent."
