The image was striking: PSPP and Denis Coderre fraternizing in parliament, all too happy to occupy the stage with a return to the sovereignist/federalist duality, after years of the Legault one-man show.
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The former mayor has already won something.
After a controversial end to his reign in Montreal, a second painful defeat against Valérie Plante and a stroke which left him paralyzed and in the shadows, he rediscovered the pleasure of the spotlight.
During an editorial interview with our Parliamentary Office on Tuesday, we see that he is fully enjoying the moment.
With a keen eye, he answers questions quickly, too quickly, in fact, and generating many colorful images, as if he were trying to convince the skeptics of his newfound vivacity.
It is strange to say the least that as aspiring leader of the Quebec Liberal Party, he did not even take the time to read the report of his recovery committee.
And when he runs out of arguments to explain his positions and contradictions, the former federal minister turns to anecdotes from the past.
A new chance
Never mind, he is amused to see that a customer seated near us recognizes him.
Obviously, Denis Coderre once again hears in his head the noise of the crowds chanting his name.
This moment of intoxication that boxers feel before entering the ring, which often pushes them to fight one fight too many in the twilight of their career.
We understand it.
He had to relearn how to walk and talk.
He passed through the mists of a year-long convalescence.
We ask him if it’s not too much on his shoulders, all that, the creation of a political movement to promote his return, to go and march to Compostela?
“It’s not not having a life, it’s a passion,” he says, responding to Régis Labeaume who publicly advised him to hang up.
Besides, in fact, 60 years old is relatively young… unless you have TWELVE federal and municipal electoral campaigns under your belt.
Back to the future
Obviously he can’t help it.
Especially since, as if the stars had aligned to make it shine again, the well-known tunes from its glorious era seem to be coming back into vogue!
During its post-stroke dark moments, the Parti Québécois regained its place at the top of the charts.
Heaven, it’s time for the slogans of the past like “No thanks”, and the toga effects against the “separatists” to save Canada.
His notoriety means that with him at its head, the PLQ would already take six points in the polls.
Nostalgia works.
Enough to convince people to go see him play his hits, like in the good old days, at least one last time.
Even if the Liberal caucus has been cold so far, it could be tempting for the PLQ not to shy away from the spectacle that allows it to exist again in the public space.
In any case, at seven percent support among French speakers, even the specter of a good fight against the threat of a referendum does not seem to attract other well-known candidates.
On a given horse, we don’t look at the bridle.
It is unlikely that federalists will desert the CAQ en masse in the short term, whatever anyone says.
It would give time, for example, for a younger candidate to spend her years with her young family before being ready for the big leap.