Gilles Duceppe is returning to lead the Bloc Quebecois into the becoming federal election and they waited until after Jacques Parizeau died to announce it.
Duceppe, who all but had his party wiped out in the 2011 election is considered to be the so-called savior of the federal sovereignty movement.
It wasn’t long ago the pollsters had the PQ up 22% and ready to form a majority government and wreak havoc on the rest of Canada.
Then Pierre Karl Peledeau turned the election upside down with his entry as a PQ candidate and his one fisted ( some would say ham handed ) declaration that he was a candidate for one reason and one reason only: Separation.
The election was turned upside down!
With 2 days to go it appears that the Liberals are going to win.
The latest Ekos poll shows them somewhere around 40% and the PQ support is still crumbling while the CAQ support is on the rise.
Lots of questions still to be answered: Who will win? Majority or Minority? What will it mean?
Lost in the discussion it seems is the question “What will the voter turn out be?”
A large turnout will surely mean a PQ wipe-out and perhaps a surprise with a large number of CAQ seats.
Today, Premier Marois is threatening the Quebec voter with the resumption of the corruption hearings and how the Liberals will cover that up if they win.
Marois would do well to remember that ” she who lives in glass houses should throw stones” given the PQ has a lot to lose with the resumption of those hearings as well. I think this strategy will also backfire and drive even more of their traditional support into the waiting arms of the CAQ.
The PQ could finish as low as third!
I think the big questions that will be answered quickly after the election are : How long will it take Pauline to retire and will we have to wait until the polls close before the knives come out to get her. ( Maybe Pierre Karl Peladeau will shove her off the stage )
Should be a fun night!
In another move, reminiscent of Pauline Marois looking stupid and playing the Symbols in the run up to last years Quebec election, The Premier has appointed so called superstar candidate Pierre Karl Peladeau to run for the PQ team in the curent election.
With this move I predict thankfully that Pauline will pull a BCNDP and turn certain victory into the jaws of defeat in this camapign.
Peladeau already thinks the political arena is his to own and has gone on record proving he does not understand politics and the people who he thinks are peasants who he would like to elect him.
To Wit: He thinks he is beyond the reach of the ethics boss in Quebec at a time when the average voter in Quebec and Canada for that matter want openness and transparency.
It is a political strategy that the government tries to choose an issue and define what the election is all about.
He has made the election all about sovereignty with his radio interview proclamation that if it wasn’t for the separatist cause he would not be part of the election team.
A recent poll shows that 61% of Quebecers want nothing to do with separation.
Given those numbers the Quebec voter gets the big chance now to avoid the walk down referendum boulevard and vote these people out before they waste taxpayers money on another needless vote they can’t win.
The smart money says they will.
Liberal Leader Philippe Couillard should hammer the PQ,Marois and Peladeau hard everyday until the election is over.
It’s my bet that Marois,Peladeau and crew won’t handle the pressure and the internal bickering will start resulting in the aforementioned blown election.
Peladeau play second fiddle to Marois? Not for long!
You can rest assured if the PQ gets a majority they will venture down that path simply because most of the Separatist antagonists are old enough that this will be their last kick at the Canadian cat! ( I know it’s a beaver ).
The latest poll shows Marois and crew up some 22% where it matters in the French Hinterland.
The only good thing about this poll is that it’s a poll and lately the pollsters have been wrong more than they have been right.
What will it take to get the Liberals back in the game?
Firstly, Liberal Leader Philippe Couillard will have to grow a set of balls and dispense with the wishy washiness hes displayed when the PQ introduced the secular charter.
That in itself is a major reason why the polls are so high in Marois favor.
Secondly the old separatist guard, many who came out against the secular charter ( which is expected to be the centerpiece of Marois election plan) will have to come out of the closet and re state their position on it.
I am sure people like Jacques Parizeau will and that will cause Marois problems.
It’s ironic when you think about it that if you are hoping that the PQ loses and that Canada stays together, Parizeau, after all his seperatist bluster, might inadvertently turn out to be your hero :)!
Lastly, there is enough potential for sordid detals to come out of the Quebec Curruption hearings that may cause Quebecers to show enough disgust for the two regular parties and vote CDQ in protest.
Should the house be dissolved today, what do you think will happen? PQ majority? Another minority?
Trudeau and Marois the day after they lose their respective elections!
I am half tempted to change this to the bonehead of the day award given how many stupid things come out of the mouths of Justin Trudeau and fellow province mate Pauline Marois.
Which one is the dumbest; the one who wants to be Prime Minister or the bonehead who wants to be Premier with a majority in her province.
Marois slight,not mentioning the word Canada in the hockey teams gold medal winning performance was no doubt am attempt to get ROC and the government riled up and provoke the so-called “winning Conditions”for a referendum should she not blow her mandate the polls say she will win.
Trudeau on the other hand is a natural-born bonehead with all the stupid things he said, with the latest being his crack that the Russia will become more involved in the situation in the Ukraine because of their hockey loss in the Olympics.
Can you imagine this tool on the national stage? How do you spell World War III.
When Jean Charest was running for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party I remember a line in his speech that went like this : The Bloc is a Crock!
Charest was ahead of his time as today, Bernard Landry left the door open for his return to politics to lead the party into the next election.
Today he is 76 and when the election happens he will be 78!
Compared to him, my friend John Cummins was a veritable teenager.
In BC We have an expression that goes like this:only in BC Politics would something as crazy as this happen. Well not so fast.
The next Quebec provincial election will happen before the federal election and should Landry lead the Bloc he could actually campaign against Marios given that he has come out against the secular charter she intends to use as the corner stone of her election platform.
Mr. Money and the Ethnic vote himself has stuck his foot in the mess that is the Quebec election.
Today, Mr.Parizeau, a racist and a bigot that Pauline Marois tried to one up beofre she went scurrying back to her hole, stepped into the limelight and endorsed Jean-Martin Aussant of the party Option Nationale.
Not only that but he put his money where his filthy mouth is and kicked in $200 to Aussant’s campaign.
Sovereignists Racists? Where did you ever get an idea like that?
Coalition Avenir Quebec Candidate Kamal Lufti was turfed by his party today for tweeting that sovereignists are racists.
A great start from the new party who wants to make an impact on an election some say will be called August 1st.
Wonder how that compares to some of the things today’s student demonstrators more than likely were saying about Jean Charest and his Liberals?
The unfortunate thing was that Lufti was not necessarily wrong, given the closing remarks of head Separatist Klansman Jacques Parizeau after the last referendum.
With last nights split in the Quebec by-elections, I wonder what message the electorate is sending the government and perhaps by extension the country?
Hey Pauline if the country thinks I was an asshole, wait 'til they see you in action!
With the PQ win in a usually safe federal seat, were voters using the by-election as a safe time to send the Charest government a message or is full scale change happening which will lead to another full on unity debate as pompous windbag Pauline Marios seems to think?
With the world economy once again on edge , can Quebec and Canada afford to have that discussion now?
Can Quebec afford to have that discussion no matter the shape of our economy given it relies so much on Federal government assistance ? ( You thought I was going to say because they are a bunch of freeloaders living off the country and whining whenever seat redistribution or senate reform comes up for discussion?)
I would suspect that common sense will eventually prevail and even if the government turns over Quebec will vote to stay in Canada.
If however, we have a referendum and the polls look like we are headed for separation we can always make a robocall or two to Jacque Parizeau”s friends.
