Milliard has 99 days to prove his mettle
Sherbrooke Record · 8 days ago
by Matthew Mccully · Municipal
By Sharon McCully
Newly-minted Liberal leader Charles Milliard is mid-way through the race to the Oct. 5 finish line when a new government will be formed in Quebec, trailing the Parti Québecois by just three percentage points in the latest Léger poll. With only 47 per cent of decided voters saying they have made a final choice, it remains a toss-up which party will form the next government.
Liberal supporters are hoping the wait-and-see attitude of voters will give their relatively unknown leader an opportunity to field a solid team of candidates and build a platform to address a spate of issues that impact the daily lives of Quebecers.
While unknown to many in Quebec, 46-year-old Milliard is a familiar face in Liberal circles having been a party member since he was 18. A self-described ‘people-person’, he has been making the rounds at fairs and festivals in the Orford riding where he hopes to reclaim the seat in what was once a Liberal stronghold held by Robert Benoit from 1989-2003, then Pierre Reid from 2003 to 2018.
Over coffee in North Hatley where he lives with his partner and their two cats, Lucy and Mercure, Milliard shared his plans for healthcare, education, immigration and his approach to language.
Healthcare a priority
A pharmacist by profession, Milliard says the party has recruited several respected medical experts from the health sector, including Pierre Cossette, a physician and former rector of Université de Shebrooke who will be running in Sherbrooke and Dr. Cécile Tremblay, who rose to prominence as a leading medical expert during the Covid 19 pandemic.
“One of the main engagements we will make is to create a public platform for telemedicine. This is something that has worked very well in the private sector and I think it’s about time we have a public platform to give Quebecers from both urban and rural areas the opportunity to have a virtual consultation with both doctors and nurses.”
Milliard said he is not ready to scrap the CAQ’s Santé Quebec plan, which many in the medical profession have criticized. “We’ve already invested millions in it, but I’m going to be much more precise about what’s on my agenda and how soon we will need to see improvements in the provision of care.”
Milliard said a Liberal government would also make mental health a priority. “As a pharmacist I’m really worried about the consumption of antidepressants and antipsychotics, especially with adolescents.”
He said there needs to be a broader discussion about mental health as it relates to itinerance, homelessness, addiction and other social issues. Milliard said he has already met with former Premier Pauline Marois who is heading a comprehensive initiative to tackle the homeless crisis in Quebec. Milliard said he has pledged to host the non-partisan national summit Marois is planning with former ministers and people from the community with expertise in the delivery of health care and services.
Time for Estates General on Education
The Quebec government’s spending on education increased substantially since the CAQ came to power, rising from $14.9 billion in 2018 to $23.4 billion in 2024. Despite the increased spending, several factors including a pandemic, the introduction of four-year-old kindergarten and a renewal of labour contracts failed to produce an improvement in graduation rates.
“Mr. Legault said eight years ago that he came into politics for education but obviously the results are not there,” Milliard said.
“One teacher out of five is leaving the profession after five years so it’s a huge problem. One of the main commitments I made in my first leadership race which remains, is to host an Estates General on education. It’s been 30 years since the last one,” he said.
“We need to have true consultations, and everything should be on the table when it comes to what we do with our education system, how we help our teachers to actually be teachers – not just managing classes but actually transmitting knowledge.”
“We also need to talk about the Cégep,” he added. “It’s been a long time since we’ve spoken about how well we are preparing our students to be performative at the university level. We speak about research and development at the university level but there are a lot of activities at the Cégep level as well, especially with technology, to promote research and development.” Milliard said he would encourage more collaboration between the private sector and the educational system to make Quebec a leader in innovation.
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