When Jean-Yves Duclos first ran as a Liberal candidate in 2015, the former Université Laval economics professor didn’t have much faith in his chances of winning. The Liberals hadn’t won the Quebec riding since 1980, during Pierre Trudeau’s landslide. Quebec sent 74 Liberal MPs to Ottawa on the eve of the first referendum on sovereignty. The riding subsequently became a Bloc Québécois stronghold before falling to the New Democratic Party (NDP) during the orange wave of 2011. Everyone expected a two-way fight between the Bloc and the NDP in 2015. Instead, it was a four-way fight. Mr. Duclos snuck past his opponents and won the seat with 28.9% of the vote.
The new Quebec MP was a big catch for Justin Trudeau’s Liberals. Duclos’ research helped shape the Liberal promise to reverse Stephen Harper’s Conservative government’s decision to raise the retirement age to 67. His writing also convinced the Liberals to replace the Universal Child Care Benefit with the new, much more generous Canada Child Benefit.
Mr. Trudeau had entrusted Mr. Duclos with the task of implementing this flagship policy of his government by appointing him Minister of Families, Children and Social Development. This portfolio suited him like a glove. Calm and serious, not given to controversy, Mr. Duclos quickly acquired the reputation of being one of the most competent ministers in the Trudeau government. Unlike many of his colleagues, he did not engage in petty politics or seek to polish his image on social networks. He set to his work as minister and MP with great rigor.
It’s definitely not 2015 anymore. Newly appointed by Mr. Trudeau as his Quebec lieutenant, replacing Pablo Rodriguez, Mr. Duclos not only immediately began attacking Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, but he also launched into a jeremiad against CAQ Premier François Legault. Legault called on the Bloc leader to support the motion of censure that Mr. Poilievre plans to table next week in the House of Commons, which would defeat the Trudeau government and force an early election. In his first outing as Quebec lieutenant, Mr. Duclos demonstrated that he could stoop to the level of the Conservative leader, whose political style is nevertheless denounced from all sides.
“Mr. Legault, what he announced today is an engagement to Pierre Poilievre like a future bride,” let slip the former Quebec MP, who has been recycled as Minister of Services and Procurement for a little over a year. Mr. Legault would like to “make a Pierre Poilievre of himself,” he added, asking the Quebec premier to explain “if he is a climate skeptic” and “if he says that climate change does not exist, like Pierre Poilievre.”
Furthermore, he insinuated that Mr. Legault would call into question women’s rights by supporting Mr. Poilievre, who has nevertheless promised not to reopen the debate on abortion if he becomes prime minister. To think that the campaign has not even started yet!
While the Trudeau government’s survival may be assured — in the short term at least — by the Bloc and NDP’s decision to vote against next week’s non-confidence motion, Canada has now entered a pre-election campaign period that promises to be merciless. Since Parliament resumed, it has been clear that the Liberals have decided to fight fire with fire by attacking the Conservatives with the same ferocity and outrageous language that Mr. Poilievre uses toward them. “He’s a fraud. He’s a bully. And he’s trying to hide his real agenda from Canadians,” Liberal House Leader Karina Gould wrote of Mr. Poilievre this week on X.
The latter also angered NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, calling him a “hypocrite,” a “deceiver” and a “fake” for refusing to support his non-confidence motion after he bragged about “tearing up” his support and confidence agreement with the Liberals. Furious, Mr. Singh, who earlier in the week chose to confront a man who allegedly heckled him during a walk on Parliament Hill, reportedly approached his Conservative opponent in the House, appearing to want to come to blows with him.
Such an incident does not bode well for the parliamentary session that is beginning in Ottawa. In the coming weeks, Canadians will likely witness rarely seen before spats between the country’s politicians. Anything goes in Canadian politics now. As Benjamin Biolay sings: “It flies low. It doesn’t fly high. It could well end in a KO.”