Early in the morning, Regis Labeaume still agreed to join the “Salut Bonjour Week-end” team.

Although not an early riser by nature, Régis Labeaume has accepted a commission as commentator Hello hello weekend Starting Saturday, September 16, because the program is presented from Quebec.

“I hate waking up at this time! I’m going to have to get some coffee, because I’m slow in the morning, I am!”

What made the difference was that the show was being held in the city he led for 14 years, from 2007 to 2021. “We have to encourage products that are made in Quebec,” he said, adding that the media was not second-guessed. profession for him. “He’s a retired extracurricular!”

The 67-year-old even requested that his interventions alongside host Yves-Marie Lortie be included in the show as soon as possible, he admitted with a chuckle.

He arrives 10 days from Florida, where he will return this winter and will visit Morocco in November. “Professionalism is when there is room between hobbies. I turned down regular offers in Montreal. I don’t want to be available every day.”

Two years after leaving Quebec City Council, Regis Labeaume says “it’s crazy to enter life.” Although he has retired and his work has slowed, he is still at the center of the news as a collaborator and analyst within several media groups.

Not a mother-in-law

But beware, Regis Labeaume will not be playing protector by commenting on the files of his successor as Quebec mayor, Bruno Marchand, in… Hello hello weekend. We tested him, and he actually refused to talk about the tram issue. “I don’t think so, but I have nothing to say! I would have hated to have Jean-Paul Lallaire play my mother-in-law when I was mayor, so I don’t do it. He was very elegant and I would act the same way.”

Fun with Eve Marie Lorete

As for his collaboration with Hello hello weekendRégis Labeaume expects to have a lot of fun with Eve-Marie Lortie.

“We’ll have to see with her what we discuss as topics, but I’d like to tell you that doesn’t worry me too much. Just reviewing the week in my style, we should be good! I can talk about European politics, sports, literature and even Metallica. I’m quite versatile.”

Even more relaxed and calm than he has been during his 14 years of municipal politics, Régis Labeaume is making the most of retirement, happy to have time to think, read and enjoy life’s little pleasures. “I have a lot of fun, and I have a good life.” At the time of the interview on Friday, he was eager to start reading one of the three books he had just bought.