the Robert describes the agglomerate as a “material obtained by a mixture of various agglomerated materials and a binder”.
Posted yesterday at 9:00 a.m.
Wikipedia speaks of it as “an artificial building material of regular geometry, solid or hollow, resulting from the setting and hardening of a mixture of binder and inert materials”.
More simply, stones that are held together by any kind of glue, the binders. And the generally molded result, like a kitchen counter for example.
The CAQ, that’s it.
An agglomerated political party, made up of aggregates, the elected officials, held together by a binder, François Legault (the binder). Not the third link there…
I would not dare to say that all these aggregates are inert, although it is easy to see that they are various materials. But one thing is certain, we can easily consider that it is possible that the only binder that can keep it all together is François Legault.
One could prudently compare with the Parti Québécois, which René Lévesque managed to keep united, not without difficulty, until the victory of 1976. The only difference, and it is huge, the PQ of the time had a vision, a great political project, an objective that made it possible to calm everyone down when things were stirring: the sovereignty of Quebec.
This is not the case with the CAQ.
The least we can say is that it is not an ideological political party. Rather a coalition of interests, whose objective is power. We are close to an absolute doctrinal vacuum. And why not, to relax a little.
The CAQ has never had a political philosophy, apart from taking pleasure, on the surface, in feeling good about yourself, like Quebecers and Canadians, at the same time, thus maintaining our collective schizophrenia.
The Liant had a difficult election campaign. My mother would have said of Mr. Legault that he did his worst. Regardless, it was won in advance. But he won it even harder than you might have thought. Solid. A very big victory.
But we must not allow ourselves to be blinded by this consecration. This second mandate will be very demanding: shortage of manpower, housing, teachers, in the health system, etc.
I’m betting that Mr. Legault will not seek a third term. If I were him, I would not feel like risking losing another election, in his case the fifth at the head of his party. Especially after Monday’s triumph.
I also bet that people like MM. Dubé, Fitzgibbon and Girard, for example, will have had enough of eight years as ministers, and will go with the boss. Especially since they don’t need politics to live.
And there begins the frolicking period.
In politics, frolicking is the prerequisite for scheming. By analogy, let’s say that it is the period when we sharpen the knives, to then use them.
The problem with suitors, in love as in politics, is that they have difficulty hiding their feelings. Inevitably, they whisper them, and end up chirping.
No need to yell on Parliament Hill to create a rumour. Everything spreads at photon speed. One gossip that gets through, and the other potential suitors get angry. They reply on their intentions, whispering, strictly between us, off the record, sure.
Eventually, rumors swell, and this becomes the main topic in the restaurants of the Grande Allée.
Rest assured that the Binder will explain that it is thinking about the third term, to calm the ardor of certain over-eager aggregates. But nothing will help, and he risks losing control of his troops quietly.
Especially with a caucus made up of many disappointed people, who saw themselves as ministers, and who did not receive a call. Or those who were, who are no longer, because they received one call too many. It gives a nasty cohort of sure faces!
And the ministers, around the big table, who have been strategically silent, the first four years, but who will take the prick. Especially those who know they will go away.
All in all a family that is going to demand more answers from the boss , for different reasons. When you have reigned like Mr. Legault, it can make you sweat.
And the wear and tear that takes, the erosion, on political cohesion and on the machinery of government.
Gradually, the scheming begins among the aggregates, and the leadership campaign takes off, hypocritically. The knives begin to fly, and not at the height of a man…
We will discover, along the way, with the probable loss of influence of the binder, that the materials were more diverse than we might have thought.
The most nationalist, like the young bronco, barely controllable, Simon Jolin-Barette, or the foreign body, not a bit opportunist, Bernard Drainville.
And more canadianlike GG (Geneviève Guilbault), who does not take herself for a 7 -Up flat. Or a more discreet one, which is there watches, Sonia LeBel.
So, if Mr. Legault believed that the battles, between nationalists and mummified sovereignists, on the one hand, and federalists on the other, were past date, he should keep an eye on his playground to see!
It will be nice to observe, and especially to know if the aggregates will still manage to hold themselves together.
And as the title of Bertrand Tavernier’s film says: It starts today.
Between us
This election leaves a wound that is not about to heal.
We tested social cohesion by eating immigrants in exchange for French-speaking votes. And by isolating Montreal.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been publicly humiliated. It hurts to be called lazy. They will have embossed that one in the heart.
Leadership involves responsibility. And not only when it can pay off politically. Sometimes you have to accept the bill that comes with the charge. So it is with living together, as with a pandemic.