Welcome to the opening salvoes of the 2022 Quebec provincial election. In his opening announcement, premier François Legault was telling the news media that he is running on his identity issues. He told them that Quebecers are prouder of being Quebecers because of his laws banning religious symbols and the pressures his government has placed on being sure to do business in French. What he ignored was the possibility of a libertarian emergence on the right of his Coalition Avenir du Québec (CAQ).
The real libertarians are Éric Duhaime’s conservative party of Quebec. Duhaime is going to get a boost if his friend MP Pierre Poilievre comes out as the new leader of the federal conservatives. Duhaime has already got his party noticed and is expected to win a few seats. It is logical that he would find those seats that are currently held by CAQ loyalists.
I think the liberals in Quebec, with leader Dominique Anglade, are also better positioned than the early polls show. As the current opposition party in the legislature, the liberals are targeting the CAQ’s lack of concern for climate change and the current state of the Quebec economy. The further demands by the CAQ on language ‘purity’ in their Bill 96 are hurting businesses at the wrong time.
The fact that the news media gave the liberals the hardest time when making their reply to Legault, tells us much about the campaign. I think the real campaign is between the CAQ and the liberals.
Québec solidaire, on the left, had some improvements in the last provincial election but I think there is also disappointment in their performance.
The once powerful Parti Québécois claims that it has a ‘Cinderella team’ ready to roll. The only problem is that Cinderella is a fairy tale and so is the Parti Québécois.
I was amused by the sign on the lectern used by François Legault. It said ‘Continuons,’ which reminded me of the old Bolton Brothers movie series from England called the ‘Carry On’ series. Wasn’t there one called ‘Carry On Regardless’?
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Copyright 2022 © Peter Lowry
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