A former CAQ MNA who quit the party in 2024<\/a>, saying it had lost it way, Chassin in the last few weeks has led a one-man crusade against Bill 3, which aims to modify the electoral map.<\/p>\n Last month, Chassin sided with Quebec\u2019s chief electoral office, which insists redrawing the electoral map is its job as an independent agency of the legislature.<\/p>\n At the heart of the debate was a decision by the independent Commission de la repr\u00e9sentation \u00e9lectorale (CRE) to eliminate two ridings: one in the east end of Montreal and one in the Gasp\u00e9<\/a> and create two new ones in the Laurentians and central Quebec.<\/p>\n The CRE bases is decisions on demographics and normally what it says goes. But this time the government tried to go over its head because some MNAs feel the Gasp\u00e9 region will lose out in the change of the map.<\/p>\n Together, all the parties presented Bill 3, which would preserve the existing ridings but add the new ones, increasing the number of MNAs from 125 to 127.<\/p>\n Enter Chassin, who now sits as an independent. He stood alone after Bill 3 was presented in early June to oppose the unanimous consent required to fast-track the legislation into law.<\/p>\n With the National Assembly forced to follow the usual process for legislation, Chassin has waged a one-man battle for the last two days at the committee stage to delay the adoption process. It has not made him any friends.<\/p>\n \u201cI am totally burned out,\u201d Chassin said in an interview with The Gazette after emerging from a marathon morning session Tuesday trying to get the bill changed. \u201cI will sleep probably next week.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a game of parliamentary tricks and procedures.\u201d<\/p>\n He concedes his results have been modest. In two days of committee work, Chassin has managed to get one clause of the bill amended. The bill has 10.<\/p>\n The rest of his proposals were voted down by the combined votes of the CAQ, Liberal and Qu\u00e9bec solidaire MNAs who all support the bill.<\/p>\n Chassin, however, said he feels justified and has denounced what he considers the unprecedented government meddling in the electoral process.<\/p>\n \u201cFor me it\u2019s the principle,\u201d Chassin said. \u201cI think there is something to be said about the independence of an electoral map. We don\u2019t mess with that.\u201d<\/p>\n The minister responsible for the bill, Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Roberge, has sat patiently through the process, which other MNAs called the \u201cYouri Chassin show.\u201d<\/p>\n Another who has not scored brownie points with her colleagues is the former CAQ MNA for Rimouski, Ma\u00eft\u00e9 Blanchette V\u00e9zina<\/a>.<\/p>\n Dropped from the CAQ cabinet in 2025 and a harsh critic of former premier Fran\u00e7ois Legault, she initially sat as independent but now sits as the lone Quebec Conservative MNA.<\/p>\n Here again, her freewheeling status spelled trouble in the government\u2019s legislative agenda \u2014 specifically Bill 9 putting in place a widely supported ban on the sale of energy drinks to kids under the age of 16.<\/p>\n Calls to ban energy drinks for children<\/a>\u00a0grew in the wake of the 2024 death of 15-year-old Zachary Miron, who died after a Red Bull he drank interacted with his ADHD medication.<\/p>\n Like Chassin, Blanchette V\u00e9zina blocked the fast-track adoption of the bill, saying not enough consultation had taken place.<\/p>\n Until Friday, the bill was in jeopardy because the Conservatives were holding out for more hearings from interested parties.<\/p>\n In the end, the government was forced to back down, allowing the hearings to go ahead Tuesday<\/a>. Four groups were heard including the Association canadienne des boissons and the Institut national de sant\u00e9 publique du Qu\u00e9bec.<\/p>\n Health Minister Sonia B\u00e9langer, who is trying to steer the bill into law, sounded frustrated when she left the hearings.<\/p>\n \u201cI was very disappointed with the arguments of the Association Canadienne des boissons,\u201d B\u00e9langer told reporters. \u201cThey had no scientific arguments to back their statements.\u201d<\/p>\n Quebec Conservative Leader \u00c9ric Duhaime, however, argued it was time well spent.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think the problem is the independent members or the Conservative members,\u201d Duhaime told reporters. \u201cThe problem is the government trying to rush 19 bills in this house in four days. I\u2019ve never seen that.\u201d<\/p>\n Constitution and other bills seem unlikely<\/p>\n Meanwhile, with the clock ticking, the chance of many other pieces of legislation being adopted is fading.<\/p>\n Bill 1 creating a Quebec constitution<\/a> is still mired in clause-by-clause study as the opposition parties stall. <\/p>\n Undaunted by the short time frame, Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette has announced the committee studying the bill will sit Wednesday and Thursday into the evening anyway.<\/p>\n \u201cUnfortunately the opposition parties are indulging in a systematic blockade,\u201d Jolin-Barrette said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s no to Simon\u2019s constitution,\u201d replied Liberal house leader Marc Tanguay.<\/p>\n The other bill that risks not making it is Bill 23 on involuntary hospitalizations<\/a> of people with mental health problems.<\/p>\n Originally a priority bill for the CAQ, groups have emerged in the last few weeks to question the powers it would give the government.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can\u2019t seriously work on this bill by adopting six clauses in six hours and spend an hour and a half on the title of the bill,\u201d B\u00e9langer said.<\/p>\n![\"Quebec](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Paule-Gauthier.jpg\")
Quebec Conservative MNA Ma\u00eft\u00e9 Blanchette V\u00e9zina held up a bill on banning energy drinks, arguing there had been insufficient consultation on the matter. Francis Vachon \/ Postmedia News<\/p>\n