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Post by Doc Holliday on Mar 26, 2007 9:21:08 GMT -5
...it's election day in Quebec and this election is shaping up to be the closest one ever. It’s going to be an exciting 3 parties race (Liberal, Partie Québecois and Action Démocratique) as it could go just about any way…. The current Liberal government did some questionable moves early in their mandate, did not respect many of their promises (what’s new there) and ran a very passive campaign. The Partie Québecois has put all of its hopes in a chef, André Boisclair, who’s confirmed to be homosexual and who carries a questionable past of cocaine abuse when he was deputy minister. The 3rd guy in the race, Mario Dumont has a relatively new party with a team that isn’t all that strong but has some interesting progressive ideas. Polls give a slight edge to the Liberals right now (Liberals 34%, PQ 28%, ADQ 25%, others 13%).
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Post by blny on Mar 26, 2007 10:11:53 GMT -5
Anyone else find it interested that a right wing part has the word "democratique" in the title?
Should be interesting to see how it plays out. I guess things got a little nasty in some of the televised debates.
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Post by HABsurd on Mar 26, 2007 11:34:20 GMT -5
The election is so close because it is hard to imagine assembling a more thoroughly uninspiring collection than these three.
After years of complaining about the fiscal imbalance and given the deterioration of Quebec's infrastructure the Charest's imagination is limited to a crass buying of votes with Harper's gift.
Then we have Boisclair who amazingly made himself even more unpopular than Charest. Now he is reduced to pandering to his base and promising a referendum regardless that most people don't want one Why should we have a referendum? So one of these three can be a president of a country?
Finally we have Dumont resurrecting the old créditistes. It is amazing to hear his supporters who complain about how quebec is run by those fancy montrealers with all their education and money. And don't forget all those immigrants.
Do these guys talk about the serious problems that exist in Quebec, say like how it lags in economic productivity and investment? No, a stupid issue like hijab wearing takes centre stage.
No idea who will win though I do feel like I lost whatever the result.
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Post by Doc Holliday on Mar 27, 2007 7:23:00 GMT -5
48 Liberals (33%)
41 ADQ (31%)
36 PQ (28%)
...well, results are somewhat suprising. While many expected the ADQ to do well, nobody expected them to win over 20-25 seats (they got 41) and they're going to be the official opposition. The PQ got their worst results since 1970 (the year they were created) and the Liberals their worst results in modern Quebec history. We will now have a minority Liberal government. Does this election mark a trend that the Quebec population is ready to move more towards the Right and leave aside their traditional Left position? Will the ADQ take on the next government? Will Harper manoeuvre in such way to trigger elections as soon as possible now that the separatists are on their knees and that the Right wing is rising in Quebec? Interesting time ahead, the political landscape both Federaly and Provincialy hasn't been this exciting, in my book, for a long time.
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Post by franko on Mar 27, 2007 8:49:08 GMT -5
IS ADQ UN or SC? Can't remember what those stood for.
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Post by BadCompany on Mar 27, 2007 8:52:10 GMT -5
Are these exciting times, or is this election result merely yet another condemnation of the politicians in this country? We now have minority governments in both Ottawa and Quebec City, and in both cases I don't think it was because people thought "gosh darn it, it's like trying to choose between vanilla, chocolate or strawberry ice cream!" I think it was more because people are just so frustrated with the current state of political affairs that they couldn't decide which was the worst option, and thus we end up with all these split votes.
I cannot see how Andre Boisclair survives this. Taking over the PQ he had the government on it's knees, with Jean Charest and his Liberals riding record-low popularity ratings, and Mario Dumont puttering along with his cute little "third option" party, that nobody was taking seriously. Two years ago there was no way, no how, the PQ was NOT going to form the next government, and probably win a referendum as well. Now, the party has been humiliated, largely because of it's ineffectual and absentee leadership. The PQ is not a party that tolerates failure lightly - heck, they don't tolerate moderate success all that well, as Bernard Landry, Jacques Parizeau, Lucien Bouchard and a host of others can attest to. Long knives are quickly brandished in that party, and I think the sad, sometimes bizarre reign of Andre Boisclair is about to quickly come to a messy end.
For Jean Charest this has to be a bittersweet "victory." Two years ago if anybody had of said he would form the next government, albeit as a minority leader, I think most people would have thought they were nuts. He was that far down. To come back like he did was something of a political miracle. Having said that, he crashed in the final week, and while I don't think anybody thought he was really going to form a majority government, most didn't think it would be that close. So he's a winner for bringing the party back from the brink of extinction, and a loser for not pulling it off at the last minute, when many thought he would. As we know, in politics it's "what have you done for me lately" and it remains to be seen whether people remember the miracle comeback, or the last minute crash.
Mario Dumont is clearly the biggest winner, but now he is in a unique and dangerous position. I'm reminded of a famous quote from John F. Kennedy, who said something like "one of the biggest surprises we encountered when we took over office was that things were as bad as we had said they were." Now Dumont is in a position where he will be expected to actually do something, and while he isn't in power, he is a power-broker, and as such his words, decisions and actions will have an effect. He won't be able to hide behind "well we wouldn't be in this mess if I was in charge." He'll actually have to accept responsibility, as opposed to pointing fingers. He has come a long way, Mr. Dumont has, but can he control his party? Or like the federal Reform party, will it implode under the giddiness of real power?
Exciting times? Or as the Chinese curse goes (yes, curse), "may you live in interesting times?"
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Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Mar 27, 2007 10:09:26 GMT -5
48 Liberals (33%) 41 ADQ (31%) 36 PQ (28%) The popular vote tells me that Dumont wasn't all that far away from grabbing the majority of support in the province. Who ever thought this. I was wondering how this result would affect the rest of Canada. It wouldn't surprise me in the least to see Harper call a general election. There has to be better ways of spending money than on the Canadian political scene. Cheers. |
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Post by blny on Mar 27, 2007 10:20:59 GMT -5
I fully expected a Federal Election this spring, regardless of the PQ election. That said, the results certainly cement the possibility further.
IMO minority governments work well if the parties can manage to get a long. It keeps them as honest as possible and is often best for all the people the represent.
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Post by Doc Holliday on Mar 27, 2007 11:49:12 GMT -5
Are these exciting times, or is this election result merely yet another condemnation of the politicians in this country? We now have minority governments in both Ottawa and Quebec City, and in both cases I don't think it was because people thought "gosh darn it, it's like trying to choose between vanilla, chocolate or strawberry ice cream!" I think it was more because people are just so frustrated with the current state of political affairs that they couldn't decide which was the worst option, and thus we end up with all these split votes. I cannot see how Andre Boisclair survives this. Taking over the PQ he had the government on it's knees, with Jean Charest and his Liberals riding record-low popularity ratings, and Mario Dumont puttering along with his cute little "third option" party, that nobody was taking seriously. Two years ago there was no way, no how, the PQ was NOT going to form the next government, and probably win a referendum as well. Now, the party has been humiliated, largely because of it's ineffectual and absentee leadership. The PQ is not a party that tolerates failure lightly - heck, they don't tolerate moderate success all that well, as Bernard Landry, Jacques Parizeau, Lucien Bouchard and a host of others can attest to. Long knives are quickly brandished in that party, and I think the sad, sometimes bizarre reign of Andre Boisclair is about to quickly come to a messy end. For Jean Charest this has to be a bittersweet "victory." Two years ago if anybody had of said he would form the next government, albeit as a minority leader, I think most people would have thought they were nuts. He was that far down. To come back like he did was something of a political miracle. Having said that, he crashed in the final week, and while I don't think anybody thought he was really going to form a majority government, most didn't think it would be that close. So he's a winner for bringing the party back from the brink of extinction, and a loser for not pulling it off at the last minute, when many thought he would. As we know, in politics it's "what have you done for me lately" and it remains to be seen whether people remember the miracle comeback, or the last minute crash. Mario Dumont is clearly the biggest winner, but now he is in a unique and dangerous position. I'm reminded of a famous quote from John F. Kennedy, who said something like "one of the biggest surprises we encountered when we took over office was that things were as bad as we had said they were." Now Dumont is in a position where he will be expected to actually do something, and while he isn't in power, he is a power-broker, and as such his words, decisions and actions will have an effect. He won't be able to hide behind "well we wouldn't be in this mess if I was in charge." He'll actually have to accept responsibility, as opposed to pointing fingers. He has come a long way, Mr. Dumont has, but can he control his party? Or like the federal Reform party, will it implode under the giddiness of real power? Exciting times? Or as the Chinese curse goes (yes, curse), "may you live in interesting times?" While Liberals and Pequists will undoubtedly analyze these results as merely a protest vote, I am certain the ADQ is seeing this as a vote of support towards them. I think there is a bit of both but one thing remain certain is that the majority of ideas that were discussed during the campaign were ADQ ideas. Removal of school boards, subsidies to families, private help to the public health system, etc… the ADQ was right and left while on the other hand Charest was only trying to promote continuity (eventhough it was clear that voters were not pleased with his government) and Boisclair was… I dunno… nothing was coming of the Partie Quebecois in that campaign aside from the fact that they wanted to do a new referendum which they were now calling differently (Consultation Populaire). There is certainly a lot of people who voted against the main parties but there is certainly a great deal of people that decided they would vote for someone with fresh ideas. Charest and his party greatly misunderstood/misread how the voters felt. Dunno if Jean’s leadership on the Liberals is at stake but Couillard certainly backstabbed him heavily yesterday by going with a public speech before Charest even could… Boisclair is done and has been for some time, heck it took for Parizeau to come out of the cave in which he was hiding to calm down the internal party revolt that was happening during the campaign. I never understood why this guy was made the head of that party to begin with and part of me thinks that this was all a ploy done by the old guard to get rid of the new guard that was bugging them. They made sure a puppet took the reign to have the party crash and bang heavily so they could come back like saviours and bring the party back up… That’s my conspiracy theory anyway… I think the Partie Québecois is right where many of their members wanted them to be… I don’t think Dumont’s party compares well to the old Reform because the ADQ is a one-man show built and forged around Mario Dumont and as such I don’t believe we’ll see much dissensions and internal power struggles like we saw within the Reform. You’re right though, how he will conduct himself and how he will keep his party in check with his newly acquired power, will make or break this party. |
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Post by CentreHice on Mar 27, 2007 17:08:42 GMT -5
I was wondering how this result would affect the rest of Canada. It wouldn't surprise me in the least to see Harper call a general election. That's Phase 3. Phase 1 is well underway with the the negative Dion ads. Phase 2 is finding the right issue that will cause either a non-confidence vote or enough of a furor that Harper "thinks it's best" to call an election.....stay tuned. |
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Post by BadCompany on May 8, 2007 13:18:26 GMT -5
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Post by franko on May 8, 2007 16:21:59 GMT -5
Mr. Duceppe, the stage is yours.
BQ, you have an opportunity to find someone opportunistic and strong.
Mr. Harper . . . you are an idiot if you trigger an election.
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Post by MC Habber on May 9, 2007 0:55:41 GMT -5
Mr. Duceppe, the stage is yours. In some ways, I'll miss him. He might be the most credible of the federal party leaders, which is kind of sad, given that he wants to break up the country and all. |
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Post by jkr on May 13, 2007 8:36:21 GMT -5
Mr. Duceppe, the stage is yours. In some ways, I'll miss him. He might be the most credible of the federal party leaders, which is kind of sad, given that he wants to break up the country and all. He's looking rather foolish now after his one day run at the PQ leadership. After announcing to run on Friday, He drops out yesterday & throws his support behind Pauline Marois. |
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Post by franko on May 13, 2007 12:27:02 GMT -5
In some ways, I'll miss him. He might be the most credible of the federal party leaders, which is kind of sad, given that he wants to break up the country and all. He's looking rather foolish now after his one day run at the PQ leadership. After announcing to run on Friday, He drops out yesterday & throws his support behind Pauline Marois. That was a big big mistake! He was supposed to meet with Marois to discuss the future of the PQ on Saturday, but jumped the gun by announcing his candidacy. When he realized that she had great backing and a good chance of winning. So he keeps on earning a salary from Canada as he tries to break the country up . . . and when he retires will receive a huge pension from the same country he is trying to destroy. |
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