Couillard finds a new face to replace unpopular health minister
MONTREAL — Liberal Leader Philippe Couillard has removed a possible major stumbling block in his bid for a second mandate, announcing Friday his unpopular heath minister won’t return to the crucial portfolio if the party is re-elected.
Couillard unveiled Gertrude Bourdon as the Liberal candidate in a Quebec City-area riding, tapping the health-care administrator as his future health minister.
She would replace Gaetan Barrette, the controversial outgoing minister whose tough-love approach to reforms over the past four years has been roundly criticized and who appears unpopular in polling.
Barrette would become the next treasury board president should he and the party be re-elected, Couillard said.