Ready or not, here it comes
A poll published Tuesday in Le Journal de Montréal suggested the vast majority of Quebeckers do not want another election this fall. Seventy-five per cent of those surveyed said they hoped Jean Charest would not send them to the polls in the coming weeks. And if anything, many Quebec journalists seem even less enthused about the idea.
Even as reports surfaced early last week that all three major parties were already prepping for the campaign, Le Droit and Le Soleil published editorials arguing that a fall campaign is the last thing Quebec needs. In his editorial on Wednesday, Le Droit’s Pierre Jury wrote that there “is no need and no urgency” for Quebeckers to vote, and added that Mr. Charest “would gain much more respect from voters by making this government work than by torpedoing it.”
Voir’s Josée Legault suggested that Mr. Charest “must have unwavering self-confidence in himself to dare to impose two elections in a row on Quebeckers.”
La Presse’s Vincent Marissal agreed that “in his heart” it seems “indecent” to thrust electors, not to mention exhausted political journalists, into another election this fall. But Mr. Marissal went on to admit that “my head tells me Jean Charest should call an election.”
La Presse editor André Pratte, meanwhile, eschewed the collective griping of his colleagues and wrote two editorials arguing in favour of a campaign.
In his column last Tuesday, Mr. Pratte argued that an election would give Quebeckers “the chance to choose the best team with the best plan to deal with the [economic] crisis.” Then on Wednesday, Mr. Pratte railed against the “large majority” of Quebeckers who say they do not want another election, contending that frequent elections are an inevitable by-product of minority governments and that voting in an election “does not demand a super-human effort.”
Mr. Pratte went so far as to suggest that to be uninterested in voting or politics is equivalent to being “fed up with democracy.”
If only Jim Prentice were from Quebec
There are five Quebec ministers in Stephen Harper’s new cabinet, exactly the same number as before the federal election. But not all cabinet positions are created equal. And the consensus in the Quebec press was that the post-election shuffle has left the province with significantly weaker representation in Ottawa.
On Friday, under the headline “Quebec weakened,” the Journal de Montréal pointed to the “demotions” of former heritage minister Josée Verner and former labour minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn as losses for Quebec. The tabloid acknowledged the promotion of Lawrence Cannon to Minister of Foreign affairs, but argued that his new position would keep the minister “far away from Quebec” and out of the loop for most of the year.
La Presse’s André Pratte agreed that the shuffle represented a “deplorable” weakening of Quebec in Ottawa and suggested that not since Joe Clark’s cabinet has Quebec been “so poorly represented in the federal government.” Mr. Pratte was particularly troubled by the fact that in this time of economic turmoil, “we don’t find a single Quebecker” in charge of an important economic portfolio. The Journal’s Marco Fortier echoed Mr. Pratte’s assessment, lamenting that not since 1979 has Quebec “been this far from the circle of power in Ottawa.”
Still, several journalists were encouraged by Mr. Harper’s decision to make Jim Prentice the new Environment Minister. Vincent Marissal opined that Mr. Harper’s nomination of one of his most “trusted” ministers to the post “sent a message of realignment in this neglected ministry.”
In a post to her blog, Chantal Hébert agreed that the appointment of Mr. Prentice - Mr. Harper’s “homme de confiance” - to Environment “constitutes the first real signal that this Harper government will take [the environment] seriously.”
In a column titled “A New Harper?” Le Devoir’s Manon Corneillier explored the possibility that the appointment of Mr. Prentice could signal “a new direction from the Conservatives on climate change.” Ms. Corneillier quoted several environmentalists and political commentators who were skeptical that the appointment of Mr. Prentice would result in changes in policy. One political scientist quoted pointed to Mr. Prentice’s “close ties with oil companies in Calgary.”
Column of the week
From the Journal de Montréal’s Marco Fortier comes “Election 101 for Dummies.” The column serves as a Q-and-A-style primer for anyone looking for the skinny on the current “electoral climate” in Quebec. It includes Mr. Fortier’s take on why Mr. Charest is expected to call an election, what to expect if he does and how all this could be avoided in the future if Quebeckers would just elect a majority government.
Special to The Globe and Mail
