Quebec minister contradicts former backbencher on party line

Quebec Economy and Innovation Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon responds to Opposition questions on artificial intelligence, during question period Thursday, April 6, 2023 at the legislature in Quebec City. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot

Quebec Economy Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon believes MNAs can speak freely despite what a former CAQ backbencher said.

He was reacting to his former colleague, Emilie Foster, who represented the Charlevoix-Cote-de-Beaupre riding from 2018 to 2022 and said Wednesday that backbenchers are "crushed" and reduced to "complete silence" by the party line.

Fitzgibbon said, however, that party lines are inherent in politics. In his view, things are no different in other political parties.

Foster was also uncomfortable when she had to vote against an Ethics Commissioner's report that blamed Fitzgibbon.

The economy minister said he hopes his former colleague is happy in what she is doing now.

Foster is now an associate professor at Carleton University.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on May 18, 2023.