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Tuesday, December 02, 2008
If there was ever a time for Mario Dumont, it is now
The two leading forces in Quebec politics - the ones that were supposedly in a death struggle for the fate of the province and the country and the ones that told their voters that to support the other was an unthinkable sin - have basically admitted that it was all a lie.
Too bad, so sad.
There's been talk of just about everything but this topic: what do Quebec voters think of all this?
How many anti-Liberal "soft nationalists" will wonder why their federal party just agreed to put the author of the Clarity Act in charge?
If these voters had wanted Stephane Dion to be Prime Minister, they would have voted Liberal. If they wanted Jean Chretien anywhere in the same time zone as the corridors of power, they'd have voted Liberal. If they wanted the party that gave them Adscam and Earnscliffe and tarnished La Belle Province for yet another generation, they would have voted Liberal.
Now they're being told they really voted Liberal after all. Who knew?
As it turns out, though, the voters of Quebec have a unique opportunity to make their voices heard: Monday is provincial election day.
Will Mario Dumont be able to use this heaven-sent gift to his advantage? Will francophone non-Liberal voters abandon the PQ en masse? And what of the Quebec Liberals? How will their voters react to finding out their MPs have sezied power with the help of a party still dedicated to pulling out of Canada?
The Quebec elites just told all of their voters to take a hike. There will be no better opportunity for Dumont the insurgent than right now.
Posted by D.J. McGuire on December 2, 2008 in Canadian Provincial Politics | Permalink
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Comments
The big question is whether Quebec voters will make all these connections. In the heat of an election, with little time for complex messages to sink in, this is certainly a complex message. Making the connection between left-wing Liberal Dion at the federal level and federal Conservative Jean Charest leading the provincial Liberals in Quebec will be a very hard sell. And convincing the electorate that the separatists lied by supporting the Liberals that Quebec voters did not elect over the Tories that Quebec voters did not elect is also a stretch.
Posted by: David Leohardt | 2008-12-02 6:53:10 AM
Well, there is the simpler version:
How many votes would the Bloc have won if Duceppe announced he'd even consider propping up Stephane Dion?
Clearly, the Bloc can't be trusted. How much can you trust their PQ cousins?
Posted by: D.J. McGuire | 2008-12-02 8:20:53 AM
"Clearly, the Bloc can't be trusted. How much can you trust their PQ cousins?"
The Bloc can be trusted by Québecers, DJ.
Their first mission is to make sure the interests of Québec are assured as long as we're not independant. These days, Harper the ideological is a greatest threat to our Nation and to Canada as a whole. We take care of that neocon style PM now (who, by the way, is the real father of the Clarity Act) and then we can talk referendum seriously since the author of the Clarity Act, the one we have rejected en masse, will be in power. From a Bloc voter point of vue, the Bloc just made the perfect move.
Oh by the way: The ADQ is dead.
Posted by: Marc | 2008-12-02 9:37:36 AM
The Harper government has been one of the most recent and longest spells that Quebecers have not ruled the dominion. They clearly don't have the guts or will to separate so they play the same old game that Trudeau taught them. Ideologically, the bloc and NDP aren't that dissimilar so they just have to play ball with the Liberal trash heap once more to be in the driver's seat again.
Posted by: John Chittick | 2008-12-02 10:05:56 AM
"They clearly don't have the guts or will to separate..."
The "No" side won in 95 on a gap of 54 288 votes / 4,7 million voters.
No guts or will...?
You'll have to do better, John.
Posted by: Marc | 2008-12-02 10:23:27 AM
Marc
What would have happened if they had won those votes? They would likely still be negotiating for the 25% of the provincial budget that comes from the more productive regions of Canada. Some separatism.
Unfortunately the West doesn't have the guts or will to go either and they are the ones who should go as they will be bled and ruled as a Quebec colony under the coalition.
Posted by: John Chittick | 2008-12-02 10:49:49 AM
"Unfortunately the West doesn't have the guts or will to go either and they are the ones who should go as they will be bled and ruled as a Quebec colony under the coalition."
"a Québec Colony"...Ha!
That's the best I've heard.
So you now talk like a real independantist, eh?
Welcome aboard!
Posted by: Marc | 2008-12-02 11:09:57 AM
I agree. Brand Charest a Dion Liberal - Quebecers would gladly tie a rock around Dion's ankle and send him to the bottom of the St Lawrence.
Posted by: Faramir | 2008-12-02 11:26:56 AM
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