Duclos offers suggestions for Liberal leadership candidates

Duclos offers ‘suggestions’ to Liberal leadership candidates

Peter Black

Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

Senior Liberal minister Jean-Yves Duclos is not endorsing a candidate in the race to replace Justin Trudeau (and potentially become prime minister) until he sees what’s in their platforms. In the meantime, he’s offering up some suggestions for those platforms.

Duclos, the MP for the downtown riding of Québec and minister of public services and procurement, posted an open letter to the five officially confirmed candidates on Jan. 27, titled “The challenges we face.”

Those candidates are former Montreal-area MP Frank Baylis, former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney, former Brampton MP Ruby Dhalla, former finance minister and current Toronto-area MP Chrystia Freeland and Toronto-area MP and former minister Karina Gould.

Duclos, a former professor of economics at Université Laval, was first elected in the Liberal wave of 2015 and kept his seat in the two subsequent elections that produced minorities. He served as minister of families, children and social development, Treasury Board president and health minister before taking on his current portfolio.

This past fall, he became Quebec lieutenant for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau when Pablo Rodriguez decided to jump into the Quebec Liberal Party race.

In his message, Duclos offers the candidates “some suggestions to help you build your political platform. I particularly emphasize the place of Quebec and Quebecers in this platform. A strong Canada needs a strong Quebec.”

Duclos applauds the Liberal government’s efforts since 2015, “helping middle-class families, reducing poverty, investing in our infrastructure and building an economy that works for everyone by fighting inequality and protecting our environment.”

But, he writes, “The challenges of 2015 are no longer the same as those of 2025.

“With the rise of populism and the politics of insult and chaos that are hurting the middle class and our world, here in Canada and around the world, we need to do more and differently,” Duclos writes. 

The minister said, “Leadership contestants will be required to demonstrate proficiency in both official languages. It is a question of respect and values.” Of the five candidates, four are functionally bilingual: Baylis, Carney, Freeland and Gould.

“We must defend the ability of Quebecers to strengthen the Canadian federation and take seriously the threat posed by forces that want to separate Quebec from Canada,” Duclos writes. 

Duclos also sets a contentious test in asking candidates to “take into account the particularities of the Quebec nation, recognize the decline of French in Quebec and elsewhere in the country and ensure the sustainability of francophone communities across the country.”

While Duclos is waiting for candidates to reveal what specifics they stand for before picking a favourite, other Quebec ministers have been less hesitant. Carney already sewed up endorsements from Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, Innovation, Science and Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne and Employment Minister Steven MacKinnon.

Freeland has the backing of Fisheries Minister Diane LeBouthillier and Quebec MPs Alexandra Mendes and Anthony Housefather.

Among other items in Duclos’s candidate to-do list are investments in public transit, including Quebec City’s tramway and the high-speed rail project between Quebec City and Toronto “in the first phase.”

Among other issues Duclos raised in his letter was the trade war provoked by U.S. President Donald Trump. “We must stand up and ensure the 

protection of middle-class families, including farm families who are at the heart of the development and vitality of our rural communities. In doing so, we will need to protect supply management across the country, as was the case with the renegotiation of NAFTA during President Trump’s first term.”

Duclos offers suggestions for Liberal leadership candidates Read More »