A leader well in the saddle, no chicanery, heartbreak, heated debate. A united front.
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Bloc members happy to spend a long sunny weekend in May in convention. It’s a feat in itself.
The kind of uneventful congress that suits the leader and his entourage and the deputies.
The party seems in tune with itself. A gleaming machine, as its leader, Yves-François Blanchet, said.
A well-oiled machine, certainly, since his comeback in Ottawa.
But the reality for the Bloc is that its cruising speed seems to be leveling off.
This is perhaps what prompted Yves-François Blanchet to say at the end of his Drummondville convention that “the hardest part is yet to come”.
Trudeau hangs on
The Bloc has a ton of challenges ahead of it, in the short and medium term.
First, Justin Trudeau hangs on. The Prime Minister, who has promised to return in the next election, still dominates the federal scene in Quebec, according to the latest polls.
The Bloc capped its 32 seats in the last ballot.
No one in the party is talking about electing 50 deputies like in the good old days.
The times have changed, the objectives too, it seems. But the fact remains that activists expect to see progress.
A progression that would go through the more open promotion of sovereignty and a rapprochement with the Parti Québécois.
A risky bet insofar as the Bloc of Yves-François Blanchet presented itself as a safe haven for a good part of the CAQ electorate.
Activists were right to reject the idea that the Bloc is committed to supporting only the PQ.
Young Bloc activists have shown foresight by succeeding in adopting a position aimed at attracting into the bosom of the Bloc “the separatists of all stripes”, whether they are PQ, CAQ or solidarity.
Youth turn
On the surface, recent polls have something to make sovereigntist leaders optimistic.
Their option is reaching levels not seen in years. But there again, we are still very far from the goal.
The recent polls granting a notable progression of the PQ are also surprising.
But there is something wrong with the independence movement.
The youth does not follow.
There may be a succession in the Bloc. His congress was not a parterre of graying heads. Young people have led the charge in just about every debate, whether it’s decriminalizing all drugs, prostitution, voting at 16 or protecting drag queens.
But the fact remains that the party comes dead last among 18-34 year olds.
It is also in this age group that support for sovereignty is weakest.
In his speech, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon stressed that the sovereigntist movement is “probably before a historic window”.
A window which, without the input of another generation, is rapidly closing.