The Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec (FTQ) acknowledges the announcement made by Minister of Labour Jean Boulet, who is also responsible for Canadian Relations, that he will not be seeking another mandate. The FTQ can only draw a negative assessment of his tenure as Minister of Labour.
For our union organization, it is clear that the minister’s mandate was to strip as many rights as possible from workers by passing legislation designed to benefit employers.
His time in politics will be remembered as a continuation of his career as a management-side lawyer. He is responsible for some of the most significant setbacks to the Labour Code since the 1970s. His tenure will leave deep scars in labour relations. It is worth recalling that he was behind the longest lockout in Quebec’s history, when in 2015 he put Delastek workers in Shawinigan out on the street—a lockout that lasted nearly three years.
Jean Boulet chose to act as an advocate for employers at the Cabinet table. He leaves behind a weakened, fractured, and shattered social dialogue that will have to be rebuilt.