Fall Election in Quebec?

[unbekannt]

There's speculation in the media about Premier Charest calling an election this Fall.

He has about the lowest approval rating of any premier, Liberal, Pequiste, or Union Nationale in all of Quebec's long and checkered political history. His latest manouevre has been to ram through a sale of extensive parklands on and around Mt.Orford, in the touristy Eastern Townships, to a consortium of condominium/ski hill developers, a leading member of which is a long-time Liberal party moneyman. Opposition by the public has been vocal and bitter, but it's now the law.

He's managed to alienate the public-service unions (actually not so dangerous, as they're all in the PQ's pocket), has blown hot and cold on the increasingly over-budget superhospitals planned for Montreal, and got lots of people's backs up over subsidies to religious private schools.

Those are only a few of the high points of his term in government.

I've been suspecting for a long time that he's really a mole, working for the Pequistes to insure they'll sweep in as soon as an election happens. Nobody I've talked to takes my theory seriously, but I'm becoming more convinced by the day.

What's your take?

[seabee]

I've been suspecting for a long time that he's really a mole, working for the Pequistes to insure they'll sweep in as soon as an election happen

To me, it became obvious during the first election campaign as a provincial liberal leader, which he lost through very subtle means, not at all visible for non-francophones. He carefully mis-used certain words and concepts which lead to the liberals defeat.

After all, going from federal to provincial politics is often seen as a demotion. And then going from conservative to liberal is incredible; whatever forced him to make this unwanted career shift is responsible for Charest becoming overnight a closet separatist.

[Leafless]

[i've been suspecting for a long time that he's really a mole, working for the Pequistes to insure they'll sweep in as soon as an election happen]

To me, it became obvious during the first election campaign as a provincial liberal leader, which he lost through very subtle means, not at all visible for non-francophones. He carefully mis-used certain words and concepts which lead to the liberals defeat.

[After all, going from federal to provincial politics is often seen as a demotion. And then going from conservative to liberal is incredible; whatever forced him to make this unwanted career shift is responsible for Charest becoming overnight a closet separatist.]

Charest is no idiot and he is after federal dollars rather than waste time with more constitutional talks.

" As outgoing premier Landry pointed out, voters ousted a government that a majority of them thought had done a decent job. Still, pundits tell us separatism is dead, and that Quebecers have grown weary of big, interventionist government - and of confrontation with Ottawa. There is some truth in all that, but I think there is more. Just like an annoyance over putting the cap back on the toothpaste tube can escalate into a divorce, Péquism had begun to irritate Quebec voters. Péquism is a mix of idiosyncrasies, among them: overusing Latin words such as referendum, status quo or consensus, calling everything that is provincial "national," and always being right on issues - and sorry for those in "the population" who fail to realize it. "

I don't know how you can say " going from federal politics is often seen as a demotion. And then going from Conservative to Liberal is incredible."

"When was the last time Quebecers elected a premier who knows Canada well, understands it intimately, and speaks English like any other premier from Ontario or Alberta? Bernard LANDRY, Lucien BOUCHARD, Robert BOURASSA were, more than anything else, students of European institutions, and recipients of the French cultural heritage taught at their collège classique. Jacques PARIZEAU looked, thought and harrumphed like an Oxford leftist, while René LÉVESQUE was fascinated by the Americans, their politics and their institutions - his English was Yankee slang, much more than Westmount proper."

I don't think the PQ has anything new to offer Quebecers and Charest is making inroads with Stephen Harper and his Conservatives.

"A great many people in Quebec see themselves as citizens of the province first, then as North Americans or citizens of the world. For many Quebecers, being, acting, thinking, feeling Canadian is an incidental part of their identity - something that pops up to the surface when national athletes shine, when they travel abroad, at tax time, or when Quebec's "traditional demands" get turned down. This stems more from cultural estrangement and bad political habits than from indifference or outright hostility. In politics, this somewhat schizoid identification is even more clear-cut: waving the Maple Leaf is the job of federal politicians. Provincial politicians are there, as the cliché goes, to "defend Quebec's interests" - being understood that these are, by definition, threatened in Canada."

PQ election results from 1970-2003 are not all that impressive in recent years compared to the Charest Liberals in 2003 Quebecers may not always know what they want, but they sure know how to get it. They have elected Charest's Liberals with 76 of the province's 125 seats.

Election results

General election # of candidates # of seats won % of popular vote

1970 108 7 23.06%

1973 110 6 30.22%

1976 110 71 41.37%

1981 122 80 49.26%

1985 122 26 38.69%

1989 125 29 40.16%

1994 125 77 44.75%

1998 124 76 42.87%

2003 125 45 33.24%

My guess is Jean Charest will once again be Quebecers choice.

"The PQ now is very much where Britain's Labour Party was before Tony Blair came along" and will need new ideas to win the next election.

http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/ind...s=M1ARTM0012465

[Bakunin]

Charest will not win the next election, i beleive when the election will start, the liberal federalists will find out they don't have enough % to elect the liberal again and during the campain they will turn to the adq by hoping to beat the PQ, then it will be a fight between the PQ and the ADQ.

In other word, it will be 2003 inversed. when ADQ supporters jumped to the liberal to get rid of the PQ, now the liberal will shift to the ADQ to beat the PQ. In fact it also happened in the last federal election... many liberal supporters joined the conservative to beat the bloc.

[lost&outofcontrol]

Charest will not win the next election, i beleive when the election will start, the liberal federalists will find out they don't have enough % to elect the liberal again and during the campain they will turn to the adq by hoping to beat the PQ, then it will be a fight between the PQ and the ADQ.

In other word, it will be 2003 inversed. when ADQ supporters jumped to the liberal to get rid of the PQ, now the liberal will shift to the ADQ to beat the PQ. In fact it also happened in the last federal election... many liberal supporters joined the conservative to beat the bloc.

I doubt the ADQ will pick up many votes although stranger things have happen. I think the PQ will be picking up many of the votes from former liberal voters. The center - right voters of the liberals will be moving to the PQ and the Leftist voters will be moving to Quebec Solidaire. Quebecois against separation will remain with the Liberals.

The PQ has been moving steadily to the right the past 20 years leaving a hole filled by QS.

My two cents

[Bakunin]

Im wondering, is it the PQ that is becoming more to the right or is it quebec itself ? one thing for sure, QS won't be much popular in the region of quebec city and the ADQ always had trouble in the region of montreal. I wonder if the new conservative county will turn to the ADQ and the new Bloc county will turn to the PQ.