Quebec Liberal Leader Strips Two MNAs of Roles Over Twitter Dispute

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The surprise move comes days after the problem appears to have been resolved.

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Quebec Liberal Leader Dominique Anglade responds to journalists' questions at a press conference, Tuesday, March 9, 2021, at the legislature in Quebec City.
Quebec Liberal Leader Dominique Anglade responds to journalists’ questions at a press conference, Tuesday, March 9, 2021, at the legislature in Quebec City. Photo by Jacques Boissinot /The Canadian Press

QUEBEC – Dominique Anglade finally decided to act after a Twitter dispute between Liberal MPs Marie Montpetit and Gaétan Barrette last week and demote them.

Despite a statement from the party on Saturday, both have been stripped of all files in the cabinet in the shadow of the official opposition.

Anglade turned himself in to Montpetit as a critic of health and social services, while Barrette’s roles have been divided: Carlos Leitão takes criticism of government administration, ethics, infrastructure, procurement and digital transformation, while Canadian intergovernmental relations file moved to David Birnbaum.

On Tuesday, Barrette attacked Louis Godin, president of the Fédération des médecins omnipraticiens du Québec, on Twitter following criticism from the Legault government that Quebec doctors are not working enough.

Montpetit responded to Barrette with his own tweet, saying that Barrette’s comment was “just as unproductive and displayed the same authoritarian attitude” as Legault’s threats to doctors and calling for a change of tone in the discussion.

On Wednesday, Anglade convened an evening special group, reinforcing that such discussions should take place internally rather than on social media, and it appeared the topic was closed.

Reference-montrealgazette.com

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