Marois proud of first 100 days as premier; opposition less impressed

QUEBEC – Pauline Marois says she’s proud of her first 100 days as Quebec’s first woman premier even if her political opponents are less impressed.

At an end-of-session news conference, Marois pointed to a reinforcement of Quebec’s language law, the tabling of a budget and the fact that 15 bills were proposed by her minority government.

When she was grilled on the fledgling administration’s alleged gaffes and backpedalling, Marois smiled and said nobody’s perfect.

The Parti Quebecois won a narrow victory on Sept. 4 and has had to retool several of its campaign promises because of the province’s financial situation and its parliamentary minority.

Plans to cancel a health tax resulted in minor tinkering and the government also slashed funding for universities by $140 million after scrapping tuition-fee increases.

Liberal Opposition Leader Jean-Marc Fournier says Marois’ first 100 days are rife with incompetence while Coalition party Leader Francois Legault says she has created fiscal uncertainty.