Christine Fréchette to be sworn in as Quebec premier Wednesday: CBC sources

Quebec premier-designate Christine Fréchette is set to be sworn in Wednesday, according to information provided to CBC News.

She made an announcement at 4:30 p.m. ET Monday in Quebec City.

The appearance follows Fréchette’s victory on Sunday, where she secured about 58 per cent of the vote in the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) leadership race, defeating Bernard Drainville — the only other candidate. 

Fréchette — a 55-year-old former business executive — campaigned as a moderate alternative to Drainville.

Prime Minister Mark Carney and Fréchette spoke with each other Monday afternoon, according to Radio-Canada sources.

Fréchette spent part of the morning greeting dozens of people at the Les Rivières shopping centre in her hometown of Trois-Rivières, Que., before making her way to the legislature. She was joined by Quebec Economy Minister Jean Boulet and Marie-Louise Tardif, the local MNA for Laviolette–Saint-Maurice.

“I feel a sense of excitement because this is my first day in my new role as premier,” Fréchette said after arriving at the National Assembly Monday. “It is a wonderful challenge, an immense challenge, and I feel truly moved to be entrusted with this responsibility.”

Tuesday could be devoted to a major announcement by the premier-designate who, last week, promised to “remove taxes from a number of everyday consumer products” to “limit financial pressure on the wallets of Quebecers” — a commitment she repeated Sunday.

Fréchette’s victory was met with a list of demands from Québec Solidaire co-spokesperson Ruba Ghazal. 

Monday, Ghazal said Fréchette’s win is “wonderful news for all women, all young girls” but criticized the premier-designate for upholding an “old line of thinking” about the economy that deprioritizes government intervention. 

“This outdated way of looking at the economy has left us facing so many crises today,” Ghazal said. 

Ghazal called on the premier-designate to address a number of issues, including the soaring cost of groceries. 

She urged the new leader to launch a commission of experts to advise on reducing grocery prices, provide community groups with necessary financial assistance, abandon the pursuit of shale gas, and temporarily reopen the Quebec Experience Program. She also called for measures to better protect women by adopting legislation that allows for the disclosure of a partner’s history of intimate partner violence.

Following the leadership vote results Sunday, Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon took to social media to congratulate Fréchette. He noted that Drainville’s loss marks the defeat of the CAQ’s “‘blue’ nationalist undercurrent” within the party in favour of the “red” or federalist school of thought. 

“This result will have real consequences on the political landscape, and I will speak further on this matter later this week,” Plamondon wrote.