If by some chance you arrived at the Quebec Liberal party convention last weekend after having lived under a rock for several weeks, you’d be forgiven for thinking things were peachy for the provincial party. The mere mention of Premier Jean Charest’s name evoked whistles and cheers from the 600 or so partisans. Wearing a perpetual half-smirk, Charest studded both of his boisterous, campaign-style speeches with cheery statistics: roads built, jobs created, money saved, dollars spent. For one weekend, at least, the Hôtel des Seigneurs in St. Hyacinthe, a town better known for the quality of its chocolate than its support of anything remotely federalist, gleamed Quebec Liberal red-and-blue.
Yet it is quite a different story beyond the partisan fold. Less than 18 months after securing a third term, Charest and the Liberals are more unpopular than they’ve ever been. A recent poll suggested 77 per cent of Quebecers are unsatisfied with the government, while a mere 17 per cent believe Charest is fit to lead the province. The poll, which came out shortly after a budget replete with tax, tuition and electricity rate hikes, not to mention the introduction of user fees for health care, represents a dubious honour for Charest: he is even less popular now than he was in 2004, the previous benchmark for unpopularity in modern Quebec politics—and, not coincidentally, the last time Charest attempted major changes to Quebec’s traditional social democratic model. In response to the more recent changes, some 50,000 Quebecers took to the streets (on a Sunday, no less) to protest the tax hikes, christening Quebec’s own version of the Tea Party movement. “It’s unprecedented,” pollster Christian Bourque told Le Devoir recently.
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Why has Charest fallen so hard and fast? He looked good in the beginning, but presented the same old hackneyed political policies and practices. Quebec has been ill served by this demigod. And I personally thankyou for taking your cynical politics to the province level – it paved the way for a real reform of the Conservatives. Cheers.
“Quebec has been ill served by this demigod”
Actually it has also been ill served by its 4th Estate and by the Liberal party. Radio Canada/CBC is a cesspool of Separatists. The lies these people have spewed unchallenged for decades makes our MSM in the ROC seem like FOX by comparison.
That is why Mad Max’s latest push is so important to inform the Québécois electorate what is happening to them. Bouchard and Andre Pratt of La Press are now helping to inform. Currently the Québécois think they fund the ROC and Liberal politicians as well as the Seppies have let that disinformation persist. That’s because the LPC have been co-dependent on Separatism for survival, they had Ontario convinced that only the LPC could save Canada. They lived off that culture war. We need to end it with the facts.
Meanwhile let’s force a dialogue with the Liberal politicians and the MSM that us peasants can connect the dots:
Radio.Canada/CBC = Separatists= Liberal/Bloc codependency = culture wars = Frank Graves/EKOS = full circle to CBC and the Liberals
We the people are not interested in culture wars. We just want jobs and a good economy encouraged by low cost, efficient government that is accountable to US.
Strange how some former Conservatives turn out like Charest.
http://www.languagefairness.ca/
I lost interest in Charest when he stabbed Harper in the back (several occasions). He’s a weasil and I won’t miss him if he is fired.
UV Charest never was a Conservative. He remains, as always, a progressive.
Re # 4: Charest a ” True Politician ” when the word is meant as an insult.
No core principles except to jump in front of a marching crowd and then pretend he is leading the crowd …… some dim witted fools at the back of the crowd or late comers to the crowd assume that he started the parade !
The last guy you want at your back as an ally should his self interests change mid battle !
At best a Red Tory in the old PC days !
Oh, would be only half bad if he had turned out to be a good administrator and had made good decisions for Québec and Canada. In the old days post referendum when he was ” Captain Canada ” and had the popularity to actually walk the walk of changing the ” Québec Model ” ! In his first campaign he actually stole the idea from Mario Dumond but then chickened out the first time the ” Unions ” told him where to go when he timidly suggested some minor changes to their entitlements.
Ah ! I thought this would be a short rant ! Corrupt is bad enough in a politician but a bad manager of the affairs of state at the same time is a double doze of poison !
Charest, at one time was Leader of the Federal Conservative Party but agree that he probably was a closet lieberal all along.
When Charest was the leader he was leader of the Progressive Conservative party not the Conservative party. By the time the Conservative party was formed Charest was the Liberal Premier of Quebec.