The Twelve Labors of François Legault

To avoid creating a leadership vacuum in the Premier’s Office, François Legault confirmed during his resignation announcement that he would remain in office until a new leader is elected on April 12. Until then, he will carry the unenviable title of a lame duck: a head of government still holding office, but on the way out.

While transitional leaders typically keep a low profile, François Legault will instead face a high stake final chapter to his mandate, seeking to preserve his legacy by putting the house in order before handing over the keys to its next occupant. To avoid passing unresolved problems on to his replacement, the Premier will need to make significant progress on several particularly thorny files that remain unresolved.

Physicians’ compensation

Likely the most explosive issue currently on the table is physicians’ compensation, and while many in the public may overlook it, the matter is far from settled. First, the agreement reached with family physicians provides for major changes to the controversial Bill 2 governing physicians’ compensation – changes that will inevitably require the introduction of additional legislation. Second, despite the government’s efforts, no agreement has yet been reached with specialist doctors, who are negotiating from a position of strength and demanding terms that amount to near-total capitulation.

As if these challenges were not complex enough, the timeline to get them over the finish line is extremely compressed. The emergency legislation adopted at the end of the parliamentary session temporarily postponed the coming into force of Bill 2 until February 28, 2026. This leaves Legault with barely a month to reach an agreement with specialists, avoid reopening Bill 2 yet again, and introduce, consult on, study, and pass an entirely new and highly technical piece of legislation.

Reform of the union framework

n an effort to regain public support, the CAQ launched an initiative this fall to modernize the union framework. Minister of Labour Jean Boulet tabled two bills that would, among other things, require unions to make certain dues optional and require their financial statements be audited and made publicly available. These moves were quickly met with union confrontation.

In addition to pledging to actively intervene in the next election campaign, Québec’s major labour federations are now threatening to trigger a large-scale social strike in the spring. This movement is explicitly inspired by the 2012 Maple Spring, a protest movement led by student associations in response to tuition hikes that spread to broader segments of society and ultimately contributed to the fall of the then-Liberal government.

The Churchill Falls agreement

One year ago, François Legault announced – with great fanfare – the renewal of the power supply agreement between Hydro-Québec and the Churchill Falls generating station in Newfoundland and Labrador. The agreement was expected to secure 7,200 MW of capacity for the Crown corporation, which is already racing against the clock to dramatically increase electricity production. Above all, the deal was presented as a political victory for the Premier, who had made it a personal priority. However, the recent provincial election in Newfoundland and Labrador dramatically altered the landscape.

The outgoing Liberal government that had announced the agreement was defeated, and the new Progressive Conservative premier, Tony Wakeham, has expressed his intention to renegotiate it. Wakeham has submitted the agreement for review by an independent committee that includes members who are openly hostile to it – a development that bodes poorly for Québec. Should the agreement be called into question, a significant part of François Legault’s legacy would be undermined. More importantly, it would create a major gap in the province’s energy supply at a time when Québec is already facing a significant shortage.

Bill Q-5 on major projects of national significance

The already heavy agenda is further compounded by Bill Q-5, legislation introduced just before the holiday break that addresses major projects of national significance. Presented as a tool to accelerate the development of projects deemed strategic for Québec’s economy, the bill in its current form raises more questions than it answers. Its parameters remain vague, particularly with respect to the criteria used to designate a project as being of “national significance” and the extraordinary powers the government would grant itself to facilitate approvals.

Governance mechanisms, interactions with existing environmental and municipal regulatory frameworks, and safeguards for affected communities remain largely undefined. For François Legault, leaving this file unfinished or even poorly structured would pose a significant risk: that of turning a bill meant to symbolize the CAQ’s economic efficiency into an emblem of improvisation and vagaries.

Legislation to strengthen state secularism

Another sensitive file left unresolved is the bill aimed at strengthening state secularism, also introduced at the very end of the parliamentary session in late 2025. This initiative was clearly part of an effort by the CAQ to restore its support among its more nationalist base. A key question remains as to whether François Legault will seek to have this legislation adopted before his departure in order to set a clear direction for the CAQ’s identity-based policies. If so, he would leave his successor with a fait accompli, in essence forcing the next premier to operate within a reinforced identity framework that could certainly polarize public debate and significantly constrain room for manoeuvring.

There is no doubt that the next premier will be taking office under difficult conditions. At the helm of an unpopular political party, he or she will have to contend with a record budget deficit that will severely limit fiscal flexibility on the eve of the next general election. If, in addition, the incoming leader were to inherit one or more of these unresolved and highly sensitive files that Legault is attempting to resolve, it could become nearly impossible to reverse course and avert the looming political shipwreck of the CAQ.