{"id":6221,"date":"2015-09-09T15:13:49","date_gmt":"2015-09-09T15:13:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newscoverage.org\/?p=6221"},"modified":"2015-09-09T15:13:49","modified_gmt":"2015-09-09T15:13:49","slug":"ouimet-discusses-decision-to-ditch-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2015\/09\/09\/ouimet-discusses-decision-to-ditch-politics\/","title":{"rendered":"Ouimet discusses decision to ditch politics"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1><em>\u201cMore collaboration, less partisanship needed\u201d<\/em><\/h1>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thesuburban.com\">By Robert Frank<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Quebecers want their politicians for focus more on policy and less on positioning for power, Gilles Ouimet told\u00a0<em>The Suburban.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re constantly fighting and insisting on the party position,\u201d Ouimet, who resigned as MNA for Fabre riding in Laval, Aug. 24, said in an interview.<\/p>\n<p>The former\u00a0<em>b\u00e2tonnier\u00a0<\/em>of the Quebec Bar said that he tossed his hat in the ring in 2012 to make politics more collaborative.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI pushed to reform the way we do politics, but unfortunately I wasn\u2019t there long enough,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Ouimet downplayed the pivotal role that he played while in office in garnering all-party support in the National Assembly to fast-track reforms that increased the limit Quebecers can sue for in small claims court.<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Parties pass\u00e9<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat\u2019s important for me is that it was a collective effort,\u201d he said. \u201cResponsible, good-government proposals are the concern of all parties. We ought to be able to implement good ideas, regardless of which party they originate from. That\u2019s why I\u2019m not a big fan of the partisan approach. It might explain why I didn\u2019t fit in.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For the time being Ouimet remains a member in good standing of the Quebec Liberal party.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI might not renew [my membership] when it expires, but the reality is that I\u2019m not against the Liberal party or any position of the government,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m just not a big fan of parties, except when you have specific issues, like for the Parti qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois on the question of separation of Quebec, which is really at the root of that party.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He also punctured rumours that he had quit because he wasn\u2019t given a cabinet post in the Couillard government.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMuch has been made about the fact that I wasn\u2019t called to cabinet, but the main reason that I\u2019m leaving is an unplanned seven-month-old baby,\u201d Ouimet explained. \u201cHad I known, I would never, never have become a candidate to run in the last election. With a young family, I don\u2019t want to spend the time commuting between Montreal and Quebec City.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said that it is now up to younger politicians to achieve the shift to a more respectful, non-partisan approach.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI figured that it would take ten years to change the way we do politics,\u201d he estimated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt would nice to have a new generation of politicians like V\u00e9ronique Hivon,\u201d Ouimet continued. \u201cShe\u2019s probably the one most identified with this new approach, exemplified by the non-partisan way she worked on the dying with dignity issue, but there are others. Now it\u2019s time for the younger generation to get involved and make it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Bar fight<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Ouimet acknowledged that he\u2019s closely monitoring the leadership crisis at the Quebec Bar. On July 1, it removed Ouimet\u2019s successor, Lu Chan Khuong from her position as\u00a0<em>batonni\u00e8re<\/em>, after allegations that she had been caught shoplifting at a Simons clothing store in Laval came to light.<\/p>\n<p>Though he declined to say whether he\u2019s contemplating returning to his old haunt, he didn\u2019t rule it out.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not pleased either with Khuong or how the board handled it, so I\u2019m very critical of that,\u201d he concluded. \u201cFor the rest, we\u2019ll see. The only way is to have a general election. We\u2019ll see if that happens.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Gilles-Ouimet.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-6222\" src=\"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Gilles-Ouimet-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Gilles Ouimet\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Gilles-Ouimet-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Gilles-Ouimet.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><b class=\"\">\u201cWe need to change the way we do politics,\u201d said former Fabre MNA Gilles Ouimet.<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cMore collaboration, less partisanship needed\u201d By Robert Frank Quebecers want their politicians for focus more on policy and less on positioning for power, Gilles Ouimet told\u00a0The Suburban. \u201cWe\u2019re constantly fighting and insisting on the party position,\u201d Ouimet, who resigned as MNA for Fabre riding in Laval, Aug. 24, said in an interview. The former\u00a0b\u00e2tonnier\u00a0of the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Ouimet discusses decision to ditch politics - Newscoverage<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2015\/09\/09\/ouimet-discusses-decision-to-ditch-politics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ouimet discusses decision to ditch politics - Newscoverage\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cMore collaboration, less partisanship needed\u201d By Robert Frank Quebecers want their politicians for focus more on policy and less on positioning for power, Gilles Ouimet told\u00a0The Suburban. \u201cWe\u2019re constantly fighting and insisting on the party position,\u201d Ouimet, who resigned as MNA for Fabre riding in Laval, Aug. 24, said in an interview. 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