Star candidate in Quebec election: I’ll be picking ministers in Legault cabinet

MONTREAL – Jacques Duchesneau’s career in provincial politics was less than 24 hours old, and already he was taking his political lumps.

The corruption whistleblower, hired as a star recruit by the Coalition for Quebec’s Future, had to be publicly contradicted by his party leader.

Duchesneau told a Montreal radio station this morning he would be responsible for naming ministers involved in the fight against corruption.

He says he’s not interested in being a powerless deputy premier, or in handling forest fires and floods as minister of public security.

He says what he wants is to oversee the fight against corruption in various government departments — including picking the ministers who run those departments.

The comments forced party leader Francois Legault to tell reporters there will be only one boss — and that he, as premier, would choose his ministers.

Duchesneau’s entry into the race has brought an instant burst of attention to the Coalition, which is running in its first election.

When reports of his candidacy first surfaced, pundits described the development as a potential game-changer — but there were also warnings that Legault might have a hard time corralling the egos of some of his recruits.

Duchesneau’s remarks prompted Liberal Leader Premier Jean Charest to joke that perhaps Legault would handle his party’s Twitter account and cocktail fundraisers, while Duchesneau would take care of the rest.