Fourth aide leaves Premier Francois Legault's inner circle in recent weeks

Premier Francois Legault, center, walks to the site of a press conference, March 13, 2024. Media relations director Manuel Dionne is at his left side. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot

Quebec City -

Premier François Legault has lost a fourth aide in just a few weeks after his media relations director, Manuel Dionne, left to join the Fédération des médecins spécialistes du Québec (FMSQ).

The departure follows those of Vincent Desmarais, Isabelle Lewis and Sébastien Lauzon, all members of Legault's inner circle at a time when the polls are particularly bad for the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ).

On Tuesday, Legault thanked Dionne, a "family friend," on social media "for these six years of facing journalists."

Dionne joined the CAQ in 2018, having previously worked for the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé (FIQ) and the Parti québécois (PQ).

"Are we seeing people jump ship because things aren't going well with the CAQ? ... That's a question some people might have," said Marc Tanguay, interim leader of the Quebec Liberal Party (QLP), on Tuesday.

The premier's director of strategic planning, Stéphane Gobeil, was quick to "kill the rumour."

"No, I'm not leaving. I'm staying by François Legault's side," he wrote in a post on X.

Dionne's arrivel at the FMSQ, with whom the Legault government must negotiate a new remuneration agreement, "may just help," according to Health Minister Christian Dubé.

"When we're negotiating, the idea is to lower the climate of confrontation and promote communication ... If Manuel Dionne, who is an expert in communications, can help with that, I have no problem with it, on the contrary," he said.

At a press briefing, PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon pointed out that by joining the FMSQ, Dionne was placing himself in an "uncomfortable" position.

"When you're in an untenable position, meaning that you have information on both sides, there are ways to exclude yourself from certain processes to make sure you don't embarrass anyone. It's called the Great Wall of China," he said.

"These are choices that have to be respected," said Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, parliamentary leader of Québec solidaire (QS). "Politics is hard ... I can understand that people, at some point in their lives, decide to take a step back."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on May 7, 2024.