'A sense of superiority'

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Two hearings, two unrepentant head honchos and millions in wasted taxpayer cash added up to a whole lot of righteous indignation in the Quebec press last week. In their coverage of Brian Mulroney's testimony at the Oliphant Inquiry and former Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec president Henri-Paul Rousseau's testimony before the Quebec National Assembly's finance committee, political journalists across the province condemned both men's apparent lack of remorse.

In its coverage of the Caisse hearings, Le Devoir reported that Mr. Rousseau - who was in charge of the Quebec pension fund when it lost $40-billion last year - "spent six hours explaining that the directors of the Caisse had done nothing wrong" outside of a few errors related to its purchase of asset-backed commercial paper. In his testimony, Mr. Rousseau painted the losses at the Caisse as the inevitable result of the economic downturn. "This is not the Caisse's crisis," he said, "it's the world's crisis."

In a post to her blog on Tuesday, Voir's Josée Legault condemned both Mr. Rousseau and Mr. Mulroney for refusing to take responsibility for their mistakes. "Even if they admit they made 'an error,' it's never their fault […]the error is always someone else's fault or due to circumstances beyond their control," Ms. Legault complained.

In a column titled simply "Arrogance," Le Devoir's Gil Courtemanche agreed that "what is fascinating in these testimonies is that nobody is ever wrong." He went on to suggest that the "power and success" of high-profile jobs creates a "sense of superiority [that]gives them the impression that they don't need to be accountable for or justify their behaviour or decisions."

Some Quebec journalists pointed to the similarities between Mr. Mulroney and Mr. Rousseau's testimonies this week to bolster their claims that a full public inquiry into the Caisse's losses - something the opposition has been calling for - would only be a further waste of money.

In his Friday editorial, Le Soleil's Jean-Marc Salvet argued that last week's testimony from Mr. Mulroney revealed "nothing significant," and wondered, "Does anyone seriously think we will learn anything more [through a public inquiry]than we have heard during this parliamentary commission?"

La Presse's André Pratte agreed that a public inquiry was not the way to go. Mr. Pratte admitted that "a reflection on the Caisse's mandate" was in order, but argued that a public inquiry was not the appropriate forum. "The government would be better off putting together a group of experts who could create a report for the National Assembly on strategies to prevent these kinds of losses" in the future, opined Mr. Pratte, who went on to declare that he wants to see an "in-depth debate" follow the current "inquisition."

(New) Blogue of the week

Now that he's no longer tied up with cabinet duties, Quebec MP Maxime Bernier has started a blog. He kicked things off with a welcome video posted on May 21, in which he attempts to explain why he, "an ordinary MP" decided to start a blog. According to the video, it has to do with his heartfelt desire to "make the most of new technologies to better communicate" with his constituents. Mr. Bernier promises "pertinent and original" content with frequent updates.

His posts so far include photos from his annual golf tournament in the Beauce and a note about the Conservative Party's well-attended fundraiser in Montreal over the weekend, in which he proudly quotes Le Devoir reporter Alec Castonguay's claim that Mr. Bernier "received the most heart-felt round of applause" of the evening.