Legault breaks with tradition and gives end-of-session press conference a pass

Premier François Legault decided not to present a summary of his government's progress this session at a press conference on Friday.

 

That means he's broken with a decades-old custom whereby Quebec premiers hold an official press conference at the end of each parliamentary session.

 

The opposition denounced this break with tradition.

 

Instead, Legault published a message on social media summarizing his government's activities, without taking any questions from journalists.

 

Before heading into question period, he simply said to reporters that he had put money back into the pockets of taxpayers and that he was going to see former Montreal Canadiens defenceman, Serge Savard.

 

Indeed, the house later honoured the players who played in the 1972 Century Series.

 

The premier's spokesperson limited himself to saying it was a short two-week session.

 

Aside from that answer, Ewan Sauves did not explain specifically why the premier preferred to stick to a message rather than engage with journalists in the press conference.

 

Sauves indicated Legault was participating in a press conference with his counterparts from the other provinces at 1 p.m. with the Council of the Federation.

 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Dec. 9, 2022.