It was no state secret that Monique Jérôme-Forget would leave politics before the end of the year. Still, her speedy exit might have more to do with the ongoing crisis at the Caisse de dépôt et placement than her stated impatience to learn Spanish on the beaches of Mexico.
From the Caisse's loss of $40 billion to the controversial appointment of Michael Sabia as its CEO, it was clear that the former finance minister had little say on this crucial file. Even though she was the minister responsible, the shots were called mostly from the premier's office.
With a defanged minister who was known to be on her way out anyway, the new CEO has been left free to roam in some strange places. Last Friday, three weeks after his appointment, Sabia attended a private lunch at Power Corp.'s posh headquarters with other influential members of Quebec Inc. at the request of Power's president and co-CEO André Desmarais.
If it hadn't been for a reporter from LCN who saw Sabia on his way to lunch, no one would have known. For a CEO whose sensitivity to Quebec's economy is seen as tenuous at best, rushing so quickly to the most powerful arm of Canada Inc. showed a troubling lack of judgment.
But the meeting did at least say something about the current state of Quebec Inc. - that group of powerful companies created in the wake of the Quiet Revolution, partly with the help of state subsidies, which bolstered Quebec's economic autonomy. Its many members include the likes of Bombardier, SNC-Lavalin, Saputo, Seagram, Banque Nationale, Mouvement Desjardins and Quebecor.
It was interesting to see who attended that lunch at Power Corp., and who didn't. The select few picked by Desmarais tells something about how much Quebec Inc. has changed.
It is reported that 15 to 20 people attended. Among them were former Caisse CEO Henri-Paul Rousseau, who's now vice-president at Power Corp. and the CEOs of Transcontinental, the Jean Coutu Group, Mouvement Desjardins and the Banque Nationale.
Notably absent was Quebecor CEO Pierre-Karl Péladeau. Whether he was invited and declined, or simply not invited, the fact is that Quebecor's media empire is the main competitor to Power Corp.'s Gesca that owns, among others, La Presse.
What this says about today's Quebec Inc. is fascinating. Once a powerful pack of stalwart defenders of Quebec's economic autonomy that mostly stuck together, Quebec Inc. has morphed into the more classic everyone-out-for-themselves approach to business whereas others have formed their own networks of allies. That's shown by who was invited to the power lunch.
Even Jacques Parizeau, one of its creators, took note of the changes last year and declared Quebec Inc. "clinically dead." He cited how no one from that group lifted a finger to keep Montreal's stock exchange from being sold to Toronto or Alcan from being bought by Rio Tinto. Another change is that Quebec Inc. has now produced second-generation empires such as Power Corp. and Quebecor, which now compete fiercely.
Which raises the question: Does Sabia's rush to dine at Power Corp. say something about its possible influence with the Caisse?
Yet what intrigued most observers was the presence of the Mouvement Desjardins. In fact, that wasn't surprising at all. Desjardins has also slowly moved away from the original philosophy of Quebec Inc. When the the Toronto Stock Exchange moved to gobble up Montreal's exchange, Desjardins actually became a financial adviser to Toronto.
So even if some members of Quebec Inc. are vying to keep the Canadiens hockey team in Quebec hands with the promise of the government's help, most of the time it sees competing and profit-making as its main priority, like businesses elsewhere.
The Caisse's choice to invest only 17 per cent of its assets in Quebec might be the ultimate symbol of that change. So is the fact that keeping the Canadiens here is seen by business and government as more important thandoing the same for the stock exchange or Alcan.