For the activists of the Conservative Party of Quebec (PCQ), the defeat is crushing: zero member elected to the National Assembly. Party leader Éric Duhaime will recall the unparalleled success of membership recruitment and mega-rallys, but for many there is no possible consolation prize. The purpose of a campaign is to elect MPs and in the end, there are none.
Posted at 9:00 a.m.
The campaign got off to a pretty good start. Media coverage in the early days was fair and balanced. In the first third of the campaign, some even noticed that the PCQ gained a percentage point per day! Then came the episode about the chief’s late payment of municipal taxes. Badly managed episode, zero crisis management, the consequences were devastating on the candidates’ campaign teams. In my opinion, this is what cost the PCQ a presence in the National Assembly.
The importance of an elected MP in such circumstances cannot be overestimated. How to represent the voice of more than 530,786 voters? What contribution can the PCQ make in the public space? And how ? Seeing the reluctance and insensitivity of the media-political class to grant even access to the hall of the National Assembly to hold press briefings, how will the thousands of new activists who were actively involved in politics for the first time?
That said, a good fighter picks himself up, optimizes his training, develops new techniques and takes credit for good shots as well as responsibility for bad ones.
In this case, weaknesses in philosophical direction, organization and communication.
In terms of political philosophy, for example, how to concretely translate a vision that reconciles both 1) a nationalism of openness and confidence in being able to affirm its national identity within Canada; 2) fiscal conservatism; 3) individual and economic freedom essential to economic prosperity; and 4) respect for civil rights and institutions? How to propose, in an omnipresent state, the decentralization of decision-making towards organizations, communities and citizens deemed more capable than the bureaucratic ogre to meet the needs of their milieus?
Add to that an empowered libertarian leader. Nice challenge!
But in addition to the need for a clear and limpid positioning in terms of content, the PCQ will also have to ensure that the people occupying its governance structure do indeed endorse the party’s philosophy.
If some influencers are leaning towards a virtually anti-immigration ethnocentric nationalism, let’s be clear: this is unacceptable. This axis of identity, which encourages linguistic and cultural divisions, is exploited ad nauseam by parties such as the CAQ and the PQ. And yet that’s not what I hear from the mouth of chef Éric Duhaime. Let’s clarify. The PCQ’s political offer is closer to a liberal philosophy such as that of the PLQ, namely the primacy of the person and individual freedoms.
Which brings me to the priorities that should be addressed now. First, what political markets match the direction and would hold promise for the PCQ? For example, the capture of the centre-right economic space of the former ADQ (Action Démocratique du Québec), abandoned by the PLQ, and replaced at the CAQ by a nationalism of intervention at all costs à la Fitzgibbon, seems to me obvious.
Secondly, how do we intend to compensate for the lack of physical presence in the National Assembly? However, the good news is that we have known people who have admirably taken up the challenge of representing the ideas of the party. It must therefore become a placement agency for these spokespersons in the traditional media: written press, radio, television. The chef will not be able to do this alone and has an interest in putting more forward a diversity of faces and all the nuances of the conservative option.
And for some, time is running out. Substantive work is needed because the competition will be fierce. Let us imagine, for example, the appointment of a new leader of the PLQ who would be able to restore the confidence of the former French-speaking Liberals who had taken refuge in the CAQ, or even a Conservative Party of Canada which would withdraw candidates from the PCQ.
Éric Duhaime was able to give life to a political party and hope to 530,000 voters. With his sense of listening and his generosity towards people disproportionately affected by sometimes unjustified and unjustifiable health measures, he has been able to establish a base on which he can build. His qualities as a popularizer of public affairs encouraged many dropouts to vote. But a strong leader surrounds himself with strong personalities.
By Christmas, Duhaime will therefore have to professionalize his organization, surround himself with people who add to his skills and learn to delegate. He now has the responsibility and the budget to raise the seriousness of his political offer.