Social Services Minister Lionel Carmant announced Thursday that he is resigning from the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government and will sit as an Independent, just one day after his daughter publicly denounced Quebec’s new law on doctor compensation.

Standing beside Premier François Legault, Carmant called the decision “difficult and heart-wrenching.”

“The last few weeks have been difficult and have led me to refocus my priorities,” he said. “I am choosing my family.”

Legault later announced that Sonia Bélanger, minister responsible for housing, will replace Carmant as minister for seniors and social services, while Caroline Proulx will take over the housing portfolio.

Resignation Follows Daughter’s Open Letter

Carmant’s departure comes as Quebec doctors prepare a legal challenge against Bill 2, the special law imposing salary structures on physicians.
The Federation of Medical Specialists of Quebec filed its challenge Wednesday, calling the legislation draconian and a violation of charter rights.

Among those voicing opposition is Carmant’s daughter, Dr. Laurence Carmant, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist, who wrote in Le Devoir that she might leave Quebec if the government does not allow doctors to practise more freely.

“I will unfortunately have no other choice but to leave for another province,” she wrote, urging Health Minister Christian Dubé to fix “a broken system” instead of blaming individuals.

While the former minister did not directly address his daughter’s comments, he said his resignation was “a choice between responsibilities.”

“Being engaged politically must be done with balance, clarity, and honesty towards yourself and others,” he told reporters.

Reaction from Colleagues and Opposition

Public Security Minister Ian Lafrenière called Carmant “a very good minister, friend, and neighbour.”

“It’s a tough moment, but I understand his position,” Lafrenière said.

Liberal health critic Marc Tanguay said the daughter’s letter sends a powerful message to the government.

“She’s a super specialist — and the fact that she chose to write publicly says a lot,” he said. “As a father, I can see the stress this caused.”

Québec Solidaire MNA Manon Massé described Carmant as “an excellent minister” whose departure leaves a gap in the CAQ.

“That makes me sad because we could talk with him,” she said. “I don’t know where the CAQ is going.”

From Medicine to Politics

Before entering politics, Carmant was a pediatric neurologist at CHU Sainte-Justine. Elected as MNA for Taillon in 2018, he served as junior health minister from 2018 to 2022 before being promoted to social services minister.

In his parting remarks, Carmant said it was not easy to leave behind files he was passionate about.
Legault thanked him for his service, saying he is “grateful for what Lionel has accomplished.”

Both the Conservative and NDP caucuses are in tense internal discussions over whether to vote down Prime Minister Mark Carney’s first federal budget, a move that could topple the minority Liberal government and trigger an election before Christmas, multiple sources told CBC News.

Senior Conservative insiders say the party does not want an election right now, but it also won’t back the budget, fearing the political cost of supporting a Liberal agenda.

“Speculation about the Liberals potentially losing the budget vote is not contrived,” said one senior Conservative source, noting that as of now, the government lacks the votes to pass the budget when it’s tabled Tuesday.

Conservatives Demand Cuts, NDP Divided

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has issued a list of demands — including scrapping the industrial carbon tax and keeping the deficit below $42 billion — but the government has already dismissed them.

Meanwhile, the Bloc Québécois has made its own expensive asks, including higher Old Age Security payments and interest-free loans for first-time homebuyers, demands the Liberals are unlikely to meet.

Government sources say Ottawa has offered minor concessions to the Bloc, such as a crackdown on a tax-evasion scheme in the trucking industry, to secure additional votes.

The NDP caucus remains deeply divided. A senior NDP source and two Conservative insiders say the most likely outcome is that some NDP MPs abstain, allowing the budget to pass without full NDP endorsement.

“The NDP caucus isn’t aligned — they function without much structure,” said one Conservative strategist. “That could make it easier to convince individual MPs to back the budget.”

Tense Strategy Behind Closed Doors

At Wednesday’s Conservative caucus meeting, MPs were instructed not to attack the NDP publicly — a notable departure from the party’s pre-election tactics.

“Avoid criticizing the NDP for now,” MPs were told, according to two Conservative sources.

The Liberals currently hold a narrow minority and need three extra votes — or two, if the Speaker breaks a tie — to survive.

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May has said she will oppose any budget that includes fossil fuel subsidies, but will otherwise wait to review the document.

Election Talk Looms

If the Liberals can’t secure enough votes, the government could fall and Canadians could head to the polls for the second federal election in under a year.

Despite the high stakes, both the Conservatives and the NDP are reluctant. The NDP is cash-strapped, leaderless, and still recovering from its worst electoral showing in decades after propping up the last Liberal minority.

Interim leader Don Davies has demanded “targeted investments for working families” and no austerity cuts, aligning with his call for affordable homes, public health-care investment, and good jobs.

“We can’t accept an austerity approach,” Davies told Power & Politics. “We’re going to wait and see what the budget says.”

Liberal Pleas to Avoid ‘Ruining Christmas’

In the Commons Thursday, Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon urged Conservatives to avoid forcing an early vote.

“Tell your grinchy leader to vote for the budget,” MacKinnon said. “Don’t ruin Christmas — build Canada strong.”

With Parliament poised for a decisive test next week, the fate of Carney’s first budget — and possibly his government — now rests on a few wavering MPs and a handful of abstentions.