St-Pierre Plamondon names 24-member cabinet, with a minister for independence
Quebec Premier Paul St-Pierre Plamondon unveiled his cabinet on Wednesday, made up of 10 women and 14 men, 24 ministers in all, according to Le Devoir. La Presse reported that he named Catherine Gentilcore deputy premier and described Girard and Paquet as superministers. Le Devoir reported that Gentilcore is the minister charged with 'accéder à l'indépendance', a first in Quebec, and that she says she will have time to lead the file on top of her other responsibilities. Pascal Bérubé takes over Culture with a mandate to make Quebec culture more attractive to young people. TVA Nouvelles reported that the premier promises three weeks of vacation for all Quebecers. La Presse reported that a petition calls for the resignation of Ruba Ghazal, who defended herself against the charge of having displayed the keffiyeh in the Red Room.
Creating a ministerial post for independence puts the sovereignty file inside the government's formal structure for the first time, as the coverage describes it. Giving the deputy premier that file along with other responsibilities shows how much weight the premier places on it.
For Quebecers, the cabinet's mandates and the vacation promise are the items most likely to reach daily life. For readers elsewhere in Canada, the independence portfolio signals where federal–Quebec relations may head.
Supporters of the premier's approach see the independence ministry and the broad mandates as keeping a campaign promise. The reports quote Gentilcore saying she will have time to carry the file.
Critics, visible in the petition against Ruba Ghazal and in the focus on the keffiyeh episode, show that politics around the new legislature is already contentious. The petition is the reported form of that opposition.
Confirmed: the 24-member cabinet, Gentilcore as deputy premier with the independence file, Bérubé at Culture and the vacation promise. Not confirmed: how the independence portfolio will operate or what the vacation promise will cost. Watch for the first mandate letters and the fate of the Ghazal petition.
DailyDrop Canada edition No. 18 · Morning · THU., OCT. 22, 2026