QUEBEC CITY -- Francois Legault's Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) is the only political party that prohibits its members from speaking to journalists in the halls of parliament, the opposition at the National Assembly says.
According to Parti Quebecois (PQ) leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, the CAQ is taking advantage of the pandemic to hide its ministers who may be in hot water.
The PQ, Quebec solidaire (QS) and the Quebec Liberal Party all addressed the issue on Thursday after a Journal de Quebec columnist called for "decontamination of parliamentary journalism."
The Journal de Quebec reported an order from the premier's office forbidding CAQ MNAs from participating in impromptu press scrums, as is tradition.
When asked about the reasons behind the order, the premier's press secretary Ewan Sauves said that it was a question of "security."
"The current order has applied since the resumption of parliamentary business in person last spring," Sauves said in a message sent to The Canadian Press.
The CAQ government uses designated areas in the National Assembly to send ministers to answer questions from reporters, or not, as it sees fit.
For example, Education Minister Jean-Francois Roberge's last news briefing at the National Assembly was on Feb. 2.
The government is "somehow taking advantage of the pandemic to be as non-transparent as possible," Plamondon said on Thursday. "Who benefits from controlling the message? Let the journalists do their job!"
It is "absolutely" necessary that democracy be confirmed, added Liberal leader Dominique Anglade, "and people must answer the journalists' questions."
For her part, QS parliamentary leader Manon Masse suggested that the premier's office does not trust its ministers and MNAs.
"When we are a team, and we trust each other, we don't need to control everything," she said. "Does this speak to the CAQ? Yes."
-- this report by The Canadian Press was first published March 18, 2021.
