MONTREAL — Quebecers should prepare to head to the polls just after Labour Day as Premier Jean Charest seeks a rare fourth consecutive term.
Tuesday, Sept. 4 is the likely date of a provincial election, according to a Quebec Cabinet minister.
While there has been rampant speculation about an imminent election, the comments Thursday marked the first time a member of the government has spoken so explicitly about one.
Municipal Affairs Minister Laurent Lessard told a Quebec radio network that he expects the premier to call an election campaign next week.
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Let the games begin …… ” We who are about to VOTE salut you ”
A) I don’t want or trust the P.Q., so not voting for them! ( More socialism, more economy destroying talk talk talk about separation with businesses moving out of the Province ).
B) The CAQ is still a mystery to me, started out great when it was just Legault talking about ditching Separation talk for at least 10 years and reforming the Québec model and concentrating on deficit reduction and a healthy economy.
Now, that he has a Party it’s hard to tell what direction they would take if they formed the Government and as with many new Parties it takes a while to get ministerial quality candidates who ” might ” end up being competent to run a lemonade stand !
So, undecided as far as voting for them or not, the campaign might change my mind, and who could win in the local riding near the end of the election period means possibly some strategic voting.
C) Hold my nose and vote for Charest as the known lesser evil, and as a bonus send a message to the ” entitlement kiddies ” of the student/occupy crowd/takers crowd who think that everyones money is theirs to spend/waste !
Worst case scenario: A P.Q. majority.
Almost as bad: A P.Q. minority.
Less bad: A Liberal Majority.
Has possibilities: A Liberal minority supported by the CAQ as an official coalition or on a vote my vote basis. ( Gives time for the CAQ to mature, puts a Denver boot on Charest’s arrogance ).
Unknown lands, ” here be Monsters”: A CAQ majority of fresh inexperienced faces …. could be great, could be awful !
Best case scenario ? With the current players: I have no idea ???
I’d go CAQ, Jean. It’s clear that both the usual parties are owned by the mob. I see no downside to firing them all and creating something new.
For certain it will take the new Ministers time to learn the ropes but I don’t see that as a major problem. A “new broom sweeps clean” and all that.
Goodnight all.
If the CAQ has a chance to actually win or be important in a coalition Government Liberal of PQ then I will decide near the end of the campaign.
If it’s a choice between bad Liberals or worse P.Q. with the CAQ likely to win only a handful of seats I guess it would have to be the Liberals.
And what is the deal with the newly minted ” Neo-Liberal ” label being used by the Lefty students and the Occupy/Anarchist crowd to condemn Charest and anyone even thinking of cutting some few entitlements ?
I guess they would have used the usual Neo-Conservative as an insult but because Charest is technically a Liberal as leader of the Liberal Party and was mostly a Red Tory when he was in Federal Politics, the Left needed something new ! Funny that now both Conservatives and the Far left are against Liberals, and use the name as a dirty word/insult ?
Funny enough, the Neo-Liberals are more defined by the Left as ” Classical Liberals ” rather than their more Left friendly current actuality.
Also funny, Charest made a point of pandering to the ” Greens ” with being in favour of carbon trading and other ” ecological ” things in fashion, but ironically the Green Left is now on his case about the ” Plan North ” and Hydro Québec developing new projects.
The Greens seem to reject all exploitation of resources that fuel and finance a lot of social spending …. so the Left want no development, hates money making Capitalism, but expects funds to be inexhaustible to finance their social programs and entitlements: The contradictions are staggering in the lack of logic in my opinion !