François Legault “lives well” with the National Assembly’s blame towards Yves Michaud

Photo: Karoline Boucher Archives La Presse canadienne « Je vis bien avec mon vote », a déclaré le premier ministre François Legault au sujet la motion de blâme visant Yves Michaud en décembre 2000. Alors député du PQ, il avait appuyé la motion.

Prime Minister François Legault does not regret for a second having approved in December 2000 a motion of censure against former MP Yves Michaud, who died this week. “I live well with my vote,” he said Thursday.

In the morning, Parti Québécois MP Pascal Bérubé announced his intentions to “take another step soon, with the agreement of all political parties, to try to repair” the actions taken by the National Assembly at the time. However, once questioned by the parliamentary press a few moments before question period, Mr. Legault once again refused to apologize.

In December 2000, elected representatives of the Quebec Parliament adopted a motion of censure accusing Yves Michaud of having made “unacceptable remarks” towards the Jewish community. François Legault, who sat as a member of the Parti Québécois, and Lucien Bouchard, then prime minister, had endorsed it.

Yves Michaud has always denied having made these comments. In 2011, around fifty elected and former elected officials of the Parti Québécois expressed their regrets regarding this motion of censure. Prime Minister Legault is one of the few MPs who have never apologized.

Further details will follow.