Pauline Marois: Quebec

Former Quebec Premier Jean Charest Dept: Marois judged then that the council, established in 2004 as the brainchild of former Quebec premier Jean Charest, was not delivering the promised results. By seeking consensus positions with the other premiers, she argued, Charest had weakened Quebec's bargaining position, according to Montreal Gazette. Marois was elected in the Sept. 4 election on a reformist platform calling for "sover-eignist governance," a new Bill 101, a Charter of Secularism that would ban non-Christian religious signs, a promise to rollback tuition hikes, a summit on university financing, as well as the rollback of the $200 health tax and as Parti Qu b cois opposition leader in 2009, Pauline Marois called for the abolition of the Council of the Federation, ditching the united front among the provinces in favour of a return to "strictly bilateral" relations between Quebec and the federal government. That was then. Now Marois is coming up on her first 100 days as premier of a minority government with a limited lifespan, has softened her tone on a number of major policy issues, from co-operative federalism on down to language. With the National Assembly heading into its final sprint next week, Marois, the Parti Qu b cois campaigner, has transformed herself into Pragmatic Pauline, adopting a more flexible approach and watering down some of the more radical elements of her agenda. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.