In the aftermath of the October 1973 elections, Robert Bourassa certainly did not imagine that after having elected 102 members, he was going to be ousted from power and beaten in his own riding three years later by a party which had only 6 and whose leader had failed for the second time in a row to enter the National Assembly.
Yet the future looked bright for the Liberals. In his March 1974 budget speech, Finance Minister Raymond Garneau congratulated himself on the “exceptional year” that the Quebec economy had just gone through, and he predicted that despite the oil and rise in prices that it entailed, growth would continue, in particular thanks to investments in James Bay.
To respond to the rise of nationalism, the Liberal government would soon pass Bill 22, which would make French the official language of Quebec, and Mr. Bourassa demanded that Ottawa recognize its “cultural sovereignty”. Even the health system gave satisfaction to the population since the creation of the health insurance scheme. That is to say !
In all respects, the PLQ found itself in a situation at least as comfortable as that in which the Coalition avenir Québec can find itself today. In 1976, the Parti Québécois nevertheless managed to convince voters that a change of government was necessary and that it constituted a valid alternative, despite the fear that the prospect of a referendum on sovereignty-association might inspire. Even governments that seem invulnerable have their Achilles heel.
The difference — and it is significant — is that the PQ was the only other possible option, even if the election of two deputies had granted the Parti Créditiste a reprieve. In 2018, however, the CAQ demonstrated that despite the proliferation of parties, a strong desire for change can bring about a rally around whoever manages to press the right buttons.
It took less than three weeks for Marc Tanguay to demonstrate that the Liberals will have to look elsewhere for their new leader. Whether in his attempt to repatriate Marie-Claude Nichols or on the question of the oath to the king, he adopted the trial and error method which caused the loss of Dominique Anglade.
Admittedly, we do not expect to see the QLP change overnight, but Mr. Tanguay could still have made a little effort of the imagination rather than starting the first two question periods of the new legislature by taking up word for word the question on the labor shortage that Ms.me Anglade had addressed Prime Minister François Legault almost daily for weeks. The PLQ’s problem is that it doesn’t even seem to know where the dashboard is anymore.
Mr. Legault may be trying to create bickering within Québec solidaire by insisting on the “refocusing” of Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, who has made the misdeeds of inflation his hobbyhorse, but he surely preferred to blame him to be a dreamer or a woke rather than having to face it on dry land.
It would indeed be very bad news for the CAQ to see solidarity activists learn the lessons of the results of October 3 and let their spokesperson weigh on the right buttons, even if it means abandoning revolutionary romanticism.
In terms of the media, despite its reduced deputies, the PQ has managed to eclipse the other opposition parties over the past two months, if we except the bad publicity that the Liberals would have done well. Paul St-Pierre Plamondon says he is impatient to sit in the National Assembly, but the limited speaking time that his adversaries have agreed to impose on the PQ poses a serious challenge to him.
He will have to manage his effects, and he will not be able to afford the luxury of wasting questions. When a subject is in the news, each party feels obliged to hit the same nail, but we no longer pay attention to whoever speaks last and we simply repeat what the others have already said.
During the campaign, the PQ leader succeeded in capturing the attention of voters and winning the esteem of those who did not necessarily vote for the PQ by explaining to them in all candor what he considered to be the essential issues, or the decline of French and independence, even if it means being reproached for being “disconnected” from the daily life of the population.
This obviously does not prevent the PQ from commenting on the actions of the government, nor from formulating proposals, but its situation requires it more than others to press the right buttons.