Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette has called a special virtual cabinet meeting for Monday, pausing her election campaign one day before Canadian retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods are set to take effect. The decision, confirmed by Fréchette’s office Sunday, places the cabinet online at 6pm, though the agenda for the session will not be disclosed in advance. Such gatherings are uncommon during an active provincial campaign, particularly for a premier who is simultaneously serving as head of government and campaigning as leader of the Coalition Avenir Québec.
The meeting convenes as Canada prepares to impose duties ranging from 15 to 50 per cent on a broad selection of American products, including dairy, steel, copper and some beauty items. The measures are a direct response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s 50 per cent tariffs on $28 billion worth of Canadian goods, spanning everything from hockey sticks to honey. On social media Sunday, Trump warned that the Canadian dollar’s exchange rate with the U.S. dollar had been “unacceptable … for years – but no longer,” though he offered no further detail on his concerns. A weaker Canadian dollar makes exports cheaper for American buyers and increases the cost of U.S. products for Canadian consumers.
Political opponents were swift to question the timing and intent of the premier’s move. Quebec Liberal Leader Charles Milliard accused Fréchette of staging “a play” by bringing her ministers together on the eve of the tariffs taking effect. Speaking during a campaign stop in Gatineau, Milliard said, “We’re going to have a news conference, flags, long faces, people lined up around a table telling us they’re there for Quebeckers and that they’ll do everything they can to save Quebec.” He argued the CAQ government has failed to prepare Quebec businesses for the incoming trade shock, noting, “This government has been there for eight years, not eight weeks,” and calling it “astonishing” to be told the administration now stands ready to support workers and hand out cheques and tax credits.
Quebec Conservative Leader Éric Duhaime also weighed in, remarking during a stop in Pont-Rouge that the session amounted to a “CAQ marketing operation” attempting to exploit the tariff crisis to obscure its record. Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, in a written statement, declared that “fear is not an economic strategy,” accusing the premier of using “the Trump bogeyman” to deflect attention from the CAQ’s track record and rival parties’ platforms. At a campaign event in Montmagny, he insisted the strategy should not become “an excuse not to campaign and to lack transparency with Quebeckers,” and called on Prime Minister Mark Carney to keep all provincial party leaders directly informed should further U.S. retaliation unfold.
Québec solidaire co-spokesperson Ruba Ghazal acknowledged that Fréchette remains premier and is within her rights to hold the meeting in that capacity, but pressed the government on concrete proposals. “What I’m asking her is: what
