It was written in the sky that after a few days of bleating, the herd of CAQ deputies from the Quebec region would quietly return to the fold. The Minister of International Relations, Martine Biron, described Prime Minister François Legault as a “great unifier”, but we should rather speak of a shepherd.
Tuesday’s meeting allowed those who felt betrayed by the abandonment of the third motorway link to let off steam, but it also marked the end of recess. Mr. Legault was ready to hear their complaints, but everyone had to fall into line and stop complaining or leave.
The feeling of having been tricked and used is certainly painful. Who can seriously believe that Mr. Legault realized all the incongruity of this project only on April 5? In the eyes of their constituents, the deputies who defended him tooth and nail during the last election campaign pass for, at best, a bunch of naive people.
From there to questioning their careers is another matter. This would have required a righteousness in which a deputy can easily decide to see an unproductive intransigence, telling himself that his departure would not prevent the Earth from continuing to turn and that he could still render great services to his fellow citizens.
And then, you have to think carefully about the consequences. Thanks to the law that Bernard Drainville had adopted when he was part of the Marois government, a deputy who resigns during his term of office without serious reason is no longer entitled to a severance indemnity. Being offended at having been rolled in flour is not considered a valid reason.
It is even more difficult to slam the door when you are in power, all the more so when you have just joined the Council of Ministers, which is a tremendous incentive for pragmatism. You quickly learn to put things into perspective, starting with the promises. It’s easier to be picky about honor and principle in opposition.
In 2011, three PQ MPs, Lisette Lapointe, Louise Beaudoin and Pierre Curzi, resigned from the Parti Québécois (PQ) to protest Pauline Marois’ decision to authorize their colleague Agnès Maltais to introduce a private member’s bill aimed at putting the future Videotron Center safe from legal proceedings and to do Pierre Karl Péladeau a favor.
Like the Caquiste deputies who were kept in the dark about Mr. Legault’s intentions, the three resigning from the PQ were furious at not having been consulted by their leader, but they had not drawn the same conclusion.
At the time, even though Jean Charest’s Liberals had been in power for eight years, few people would have bet that Pauline Marois would become premier 15 months later.
Four other deputies would soon leave in their turn. Jean-Martin Aussant said he no longer believed that Mme Marois was capable of leading Quebec to independence, while François Rebello (La Prairie), Benoit Charrette (Deux-Montagnes) and Daniel Ratthé, believing rather that Quebecers no longer wanted it, had bet on the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ).
Éric Duhaime probably didn’t seriously believe that any of the 14 CAQ MPs would accept his invitation to join his party, but we can’t blame him for trying.
If Éric Caire had decided to resign immediately, the Conservative leader would no doubt have welcomed him with joy, but the MP for La Peltrie is now a sort of pariah, to whom Mr. Legault might not have gave his “full support” if he did not fear the holding of a by-election that the CAQ would have every chance of losing.
Defectors, however, get a bad press these days. Unless you feel great frustration, like the one that pushed Claire Samson to become the voice of the Conservative Party of Quebec (PCQ) in the National Assembly after being elected in Iberville under the CAQ banner, leaving one party for another without undergoing the test of an election is a very risky bet.
François Rebello, who went directly from the PQ to the CAQ, bit the dust in 2012 and had to resign himself to leaving politics. Benoit Charrette and Daniel Ratthé initially sat as independents, but it took two elections for the former to return to the Blue Room.
Only Mr. Ratthé managed a smooth transition, before being excluded from the CAQ caucus the following year, when allegations relating to irregularities committed during his campaign for mayor of Blainville, in 2005, were made before the commission Charbonneau.
At the time, leaving the PQ for the CAQ nevertheless constituted a reasonable risk, while the future of the PCQ seemed uncertain to say the least. The anger provoked by the about-face on the third link is very real, but what will remain of it in three and a half years? Besides, all things considered, the sheepfold is not so uncomfortable.