Quebec Election March 26th
As we all expected, Jean Charest has dropped the writ for a March 26th election. Most are predicting Charest will be re-elected and there is certainly a good chance he will, however considering the Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ) tends to pile up huge majorities on the westside of Montreal, Charest needs about a five point lead to guarantee a win. Still the fact he has a good chance of winning is remarkable when considering he was 30 points behind a couple years ago and everybody assumed he would be a one-term premier. Part of that is because Andre Boisclair has been a disaster as PQ leader, but also Quebec has been use to a socialist type government with high taxes, elaborate welfare state, and big government and Charest tried to change that even if only modestly. Those changes were definitely necessary if Quebec was to remain strong in an increasingly globalized economy, but unpopular. I therefore fully endorse Jean Charest and would without question vote for him if I lived in Quebec. While I don't have any serious problems with Mario Dumont as he is mostly right wing on economic policies (like myself) as opposed to social policies, he has little chance at forming government and is untested, whereas we know what a Charest government is like.
Some Liberals may not care for him since he is a former Progressive Conservative and the fact him and Harper have a good relation. But lets remember in Quebec, we are a facing a separtist threat and only when federalists of all political stripes unite can this be defeated, therefore this is a case where I believe federal Tories, Liberals, and Dippers should put aside their differences and focus on what is best for Quebec and Canada. The threat of separation has only made Quebec less attractive for investment and hurts Canada's economy whenever it is brought up. Two referendums have been held on this issue and both times Quebecers said no, so it is time to move on and stop beating the dead horse. Separtist are also kidding themselves if they think Quebec will be better off by separating. Quebec could, contrary to what some say, survive without Ottawa's help, but it would need to change its model of governance to a more pro-free enterprise one, which the separtist seem most adamant about doing. More importantly I find incredibly hypocritical that the PQ and BQ who want Quebec to separate, complain whenever they don't get more funding from Ottawa. I am sorry guys, but you cannot have it both ways. If you want money from Ottawa, you have to be part of Canada. Hopefully after this election Charest will win and another referendum will be off the table for another 4 years. If the PQ wins a minority government, I think for the sake of Canadian unity, the ADQ, PLQ should form a federalist coalition. Considering both Charest and Dumont are centre-right in their beliefs, it probably could work even though Dumont is a bit further to the right than Charest, but not so far right their differences are irreconceivable.
Some Liberals may not care for him since he is a former Progressive Conservative and the fact him and Harper have a good relation. But lets remember in Quebec, we are a facing a separtist threat and only when federalists of all political stripes unite can this be defeated, therefore this is a case where I believe federal Tories, Liberals, and Dippers should put aside their differences and focus on what is best for Quebec and Canada. The threat of separation has only made Quebec less attractive for investment and hurts Canada's economy whenever it is brought up. Two referendums have been held on this issue and both times Quebecers said no, so it is time to move on and stop beating the dead horse. Separtist are also kidding themselves if they think Quebec will be better off by separating. Quebec could, contrary to what some say, survive without Ottawa's help, but it would need to change its model of governance to a more pro-free enterprise one, which the separtist seem most adamant about doing. More importantly I find incredibly hypocritical that the PQ and BQ who want Quebec to separate, complain whenever they don't get more funding from Ottawa. I am sorry guys, but you cannot have it both ways. If you want money from Ottawa, you have to be part of Canada. Hopefully after this election Charest will win and another referendum will be off the table for another 4 years. If the PQ wins a minority government, I think for the sake of Canadian unity, the ADQ, PLQ should form a federalist coalition. Considering both Charest and Dumont are centre-right in their beliefs, it probably could work even though Dumont is a bit further to the right than Charest, but not so far right their differences are irreconceivable.
posted by Monkey Loves to Fight at 5:30 PM
4 Comments:
this election is going to be really exciting compared to the 2003 election.
Stephane
www.go-quebec.com
It should be interesting. Even more interesting we could see a minority government, which I cannot remember the last time Quebec had a minority government.
Miles,
I haven't bothered to Google it but I believe that Quebec has never had a minority government.
PST - I think you are right, however Quebec has usually been a two party system. I don't think any election has seen three parties get over 20% whereas the current polls show three parties over 20%. In fact in most elections, the losing party usually gets over 40% while this time the winning party may get less than 40%, in fact I believe that it is quite common to get in the high 40s and still lose in Quebec.
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