On March 12, at the end of a final dinner bringing together elected islanders in Beauvau, Gérald Darmanin announced the validation of the “constitutional writing” project which provides for the recognition of “a status of autonomy” for Corsica. “within the Republic” accompanied by “its own normative power, whether legislative or regulatory”. The text respects within the allotted time the red lines set by the President of the Republic since the start of the process begun in March 2022, following the assassination of Yvan Colonna in prison. The project will have to pass the test of Parliament, but the message from the Minister of the Interior is clear: he did the “job”.
In the shadow of the minister, Grégory Canal, his advisor, can savor the pleasant feeling of work accomplished. The architect of the agreement with the insular political forces with multiple divisions and enmities is him. The cabinet takes care to maintain discretion towards him, but the elegant silhouette of this 48-year-old senior official is well known in the first circles of power. Born in Paris, a lawyer by training, an RPR activist, he joined François Fillon at Matignon for five years, first in charge of relations with elected officials, then deputy head of his cabinet. Sub-prefect in 2012, chief of staff of the prefect of Aisne, he organized Fillon’s campaign in 2017 before the latter’s fall.
In 2020, he became first deputy mayor of the 15th arrondissement, LR Philippe Goujon, who is full of praise for him: “He is very strong in resolving conflicts, always in a good mood and empathetic. He achieved the merger of my list with that of Rachida Dati to block the left, it was nevertheless very complicated.” He also achieved the feat of working for the presidential majority without arousing the resentment of his political family. “Canal is a special case, he is authentically right-wing, he is not soluble in Macronie. Among the government advisors, he is one of the last dinosaurs to have experience of power and presidential campaigns, he plays old-fashioned politics in one of the few ministries that still plays politics. Every voice and every detail counts. He is also one of the only ones to frog in the Senate after questions to the government . It is terribly effective,” comments an LR executive.
Affable and good-natured
Loyal, faithful, a fine negotiator, a man of networks rooted on the right: so many qualities which encouraged the minister to call him to his side, then to make him his advisor in charge of the explosive Corsican file. They have known each other for 25 years, Canal had welcomed the young activist Darmanin to the RPR. “They are very friends, a mutual trust binds them,” assures Philippe Goujon.
The two men arrived in Ajaccio in March 2022 against a backdrop of street riots and the resumption of FLNC attacks. There they find a political world dominated by nationalists whose success at the polls has not been denied since 2015 (nearly 68% in the last elections) but very divided between autonomists and separatists, all brother enemies. Relations between Paris and the territorial majority led for eight years by the autonomist president of the Corsican executive Gilles Simeoni are tense, the question of the fate of the Erignac commando is the first cause. But in April 2022, the government agreed to the transfer of prisoners to the island.
Grégory Canal finds his feet in a country passionate about politics. His affable and good-natured character appeals to the Corsicans. Meticulous and hardworking, he undertakes an overview of the components of society which bring him the ills of the island: town planning, land speculation, poverty… And applies his method: hand-to-hand combat behind the scenes, multiplying meetings, phone calls until late in the evening. Outside of the strategic committee, he communicates directly with elected officials, starting with Laurent Marcangeli, president of the Horizons group at the Palais Bourbon. “Grégory Canal spared no effort,” comments the deputy who does not hide his closeness to Darmanin, “he is really doing quite well given the complexity of the case.”
Especially since the right is itself divided: the Marcangeli clan being in favor of legislative power for real autonomy while senator LR Jean-Jacques Panunzi and Jean-Martin Mondoloni, co-president of the right group in the assembly of Corsica, are resolutely hostile to it. Tirelessly, Grégory Canal works a passageway. “We don’t share the same opinions but he knows how to walk on the crests and if the minister can claim success for the moment, he owes it to him,” recognizes Jean-Martin Mondoloni. The autonomist Jean-Christophe Angelini appreciates his political dimension: “He is not a technologist, he is an activist with convictions which may be different from ours but who respects us and understands the issues. He is an elected official, which makes things easier, he never reneged on a single one of his commitments. If we were able to succeed, it is thanks to the energy he deployed.”
“When we do him a bad blow, he gives it back”
Others, like the separatist Paul-Félix Benedetti, especially remember the maneuvering side of the negotiator: “He pushed for a minimalist agreement by integrating the will of the right-wing groups, we did not settle on that.” A member of the territorial majority adds: “He has interfered in local politics, playing on our divisions to better reign. He is a bit of a grocer, to you and to you but he also appears to be psychorigid, a cop side, well informed, the style of the right à la Pasqua”.
“When we do him a bad blow, he gives it back, it’s the game of politics,” tempers an elected official from the opposition. The bad blow is the abstention of the three nationalist deputies on the motion to reject the immigration law for which Canal worked hard and whose negotiations had suspended the process for several months. Clearly, the “nations” then played a bad trick on the government.
Grégory Canal is not only the Corsican Interior Minister, he is also Darmanin’s key man in the Senate, appointed parliamentary advisor to maintain the link with the right. The choice of the nationalists in this decisive moment did not go unnoticed. In mid-February, when the islanders had still not found a compromise, Darmanin gave a vitriolic interview in Corse Matin, demanding a rapid conclusion of the process. Under pressure, elected officials quickly reached an agreement, paving the way for the validation of the constitutional writings. The parliamentary phase which will follow is more than uncertain as the autonomy and recognition of a Corsican community are already tensing the senators. But as clever politicians, Gérald Darmanin and Grégory Canal will always be able to claim to have succeeded in proposing a solution to the political conflict which has undermined relations between Paris and Corsica for more than forty years.
.