MONTREAL - Francois Legault may be the most popular politician in Quebec, but the man leading the Coalition for the Future of Quebec (CAQ) is not quite ready to make the shift from an advocacy group to a political party.
"When we started our group last February we were very clear at the time we would make proposals on four subjects, education, health care, economy and culture. We did that. We said also at the time that we would consult in all regions in Quebec.
That is what we're doing right now, and we also said that before the end of the year, we'll table an action plan to get Quebec moving," said Legault.
Once that "action plan" is in place, then and only then will the former PQ minister be ready to hit the campaign trail.
Win or lose, Legault says he wants to make permanent changes to the province.
"My personal target is not to win a popularity contest. My target is to make important changes in Quebec," said Legault, [For the last] "30, 40 years we're not moving in Quebec."
One of those changes will be defining goals and acceptable performance levels in all government contracts, including in education and health care.
"When I was Minister of education or health care, I tried to put together some performance contracts, but I soon as I came to try to reopen the collective agreements, then there is a lot of resistance about making these changes," said Legault.
While it may seem like everything in Quebec's political environment will be subject to change, the former Parti Quebecois minister says one bugaboo for anglophones -- an independent Quebec -- will never be on the table in his lifetime.
"I'm 54 years old. I have no intention of working on the constitutional debate anymore in my career. I am done.
"But I want to do something in order to leave to my children a Quebec that has a better economy, a Quebec that has more confidence in itself."
For the rest of the interview, click the video to the right.
