{"id":578358,"date":"2026-04-02T23:26:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T23:26:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/578358\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T23:26:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T23:26:08","slug":"francois-legault-urges-quebec-to-protect-identity-in-farewell-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/578358\/","title":{"rendered":"Fran\u00e7ois Legault urges Quebec to protect identity in farewell speech"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Fran\u00e7ois Legault said Quebeckers should be proud of their history and culture, and urged them not to give in to pessimism in the face of war and instability.Jacques Boissinot\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Fran\u00e7ois Legault<\/a> exhorted Quebeckers to defend their values and not give in to cynicism during an emotional farewell at the province\u2019s National Assembly on Thursday, less than two weeks before he steps down as Premier after nearly eight years in power. <\/p>\n

In his plain-spoken style, Mr. Legault recounted how he rose from humble beginnings to found the Coalition Avenir Qu\u00e9bec and then led it to form government in 2018, calling his time as Premier the \u201cgreatest honour\u201d of his life. <\/p>\n

He defended the broad strokes of his legacy, including an interventionist approach to the economy and efforts to define and safeguard Quebec\u2019s identity. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have the right to want to protect our values,\u201d he said in his final address as Premier to the legislature. \u201cIt\u2019s true that our nation is evolving with the arrival of newcomers, but we have the right to want Quebec to remain Quebec.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Legault, 68, announced his resignation in January after he proved unable to reverse the Coalition Avenir Qu\u00e9bec\u2019s collapse in the polls over the last two years. <\/p>\n

In Quebec City, the curtain rises on an unpredictable election year<\/a><\/p>\n

On April 12, party members will choose his successor, who will become premier. A provincial election is scheduled for October. <\/p>\n

In a rare display of solidarity, colleagues and opponents alike paid homage to Mr. Legault\u2019s nearly 30-year political career in the National Assembly on Thursday, saying he left his mark on the province as he fought to protect its unique character.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has made it normal once again to defend our nation,\u201d said Parti Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon. \u201cHe has restored to Quebec a certain sense of self.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a tearful speech, Government House Leader Simon Jolin-Barrette said Mr. Legault \u201csucceeded in bringing issues of existential importance to the Quebec nation back to the forefront of the political debate,\u201d including secularism, immigration and the protection of the French language. <\/p>\n

\u201cI am convinced that your legacy will have profoundly transformed Quebec,\u201d he told the Premier. <\/p>\n

Earlier in the day, the legislature voted to adopt the government\u2019s latest secularism bill, which restricts communal prayer in public places and extends the province\u2019s ban on religious symbols to daycare workers. <\/p>\n

The legislation is part of Mr. Legault\u2019s long-standing effort to reinforce secularism as one of Quebec\u2019s defining values. It follows Bill 21, which in 2019 banned religious symbols for public servants in positions of authority, including teachers. That law was challenged at the Supreme Court of Canada last month.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, Mr. Legault said Quebeckers should be proud of their history and culture. He fought back tears when speaking of his own upbringing in a municipality west of Montreal, where he was raised by parents who he said did not finish high school. His biggest regret, he added, is that his father died too young to see what he made of his life. <\/p>\n

Mr. Legault co-founded Air Transat in 1986 before turning to politics. He joined the Parti Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois and was first elected to the National Assembly in 1998. On Thursday, he cited PQ founder Ren\u00e9 L\u00e9vesque as his \u201cgreatest inspiration.\u201d <\/p>\n

In 2011, he co-founded the Coalition Avenir Qu\u00e9bec, a nationalist party that rejected the idea of a third referendum on sovereignty. Under his leadership, the party formed majority governments in 2018 and 2022. <\/p>\n

Andr\u00e9 Fortin, House Leader for the Liberal opposition, said that for many Quebeckers, Mr. Legault will forever be \u201cinextricably linked\u201d to the COVID-19 pandemic, when he formed a \u201cunique bond\u201d with an anxious electorate. \u201cNever before have Quebeckers hung on every word of a political leader, day after day,\u201d Mr. Fortin said. <\/p>\n

But the CAQ has plummeted in popularity in recent years, eclipsed by the PQ in the polls. Two former cabinet ministers, Christine Fr\u00e9chette and Bernard Drainville, are now vying to become premier. <\/p>\n

Mr. Legault has been criticized for his management of Quebec\u2019s economy, including for losing money on investments in electric vehicle and battery projects. Ms. Fr\u00e9chette, the former economy minister, has promised to take a less interventionist approach. But on Thursday, the Premier defended his record, saying government assistance is required \u201cto give us the means to achieve our ambitions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you don\u2019t take risks, you don\u2019t move forward,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd we mustn\u2019t let failure paralyze us.\u201d<\/p>\n

With his wife, Isabelle Brais, looking on from the gallery, and with many of his colleagues wiping away tears, Mr. Legault urged Quebeckers not to yield to pessimism in the face of war and global instability. <\/p>\n

\u201cCynicism must not replace hope,\u201d he said. \u201cEach of us here has a responsibility to offer hope \u2013 to give hope to future generations, to believe in the future, to believe in humanity, and to believe in ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Fran\u00e7ois Legault said Quebeckers should be proud of their history and culture, and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":578359,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,66,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-578358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-science","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=578358"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578358\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/578359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=578358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=578358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=578358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}