The slogan could not have been clearer. “The institution is sacred! »
This slogan was dictated by Michel Gauthier, parliamentary leader of the Bloc Québécois when the sovereignist party, then led by Lucien Bouchard, had 54 deputies elected in the 1993 federal elections. This resounding victory caused quite a shock in the rest of the country, especially since the Bloc had obtained the mandate to form the official opposition to the Liberal government of Jean Chrétien.
“The Federal Parliament welcomes us, the sovereignists. Canadians expect to see a bunch of thugs, anarchists, and hoodlums show up during the first question period. We will stand up, we will act with conviction and strength, like mercenaries of sovereignty. But we are going to be intelligent and impeccable parliamentarians who will make Quebecers proud. We will not shame Quebecers! », had also affirmed Mr. Gauthier, a formidable parliamentarian, to his new Bloc colleagues.
Mr. Gauthier, who died four years ago at the age of 70, claimed to have learned the importance of respecting institutions from Jacques Parizeau, at the time when both men sat in the Assembly. national.
Former Bloc MP Yvan Loubier made a point of recalling the words of the late Mr. Gauthier during a ceremony organized last month by the latter’s widow, Anne Allard. Over the course of a Saturday afternoon in Gatineau, the event brought together former colleagues of Mr. Gauthier, including former Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe.
Obviously, Michel Gauthier’s slogan is still part of the Bloc’s political DNA.
Over the past few months, the training led by Yves-François Blanchet is the one which, in the opinion of many, has stood out by displaying the most respect for the institution in which it has evolved for nearly 35 years.
This feat of arms is a paradox. Because the Bloc Québécois remains a group that campaigns for the sovereignty of Quebec. Its goal is to work for the birth of another country.
“Crazy.” “Extremist”. ” Radical “. Since the election of Pierre Poilievre as leader of the Conservative Party almost two years ago, insults have become commonplace in the Commons.
The Conservative leader never misses an opportunity to deliver blows to the belt to destabilize his political adversary. This even led to his being expelled by President Greg Fergus, after refusing to apologize for calling the Prime Minister a “crazy” (wacko).
Trailing in the polls for a year, Justin Trudeau’s Liberals have decided in recent weeks to fight fire with fire, and insults with insults.
Last month, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland was called to order after she said Pierre Poilievre wore more makeup than her during an exchange during question period in the Commons.
She was also called to order after asserting this week that the Conservative leader was ignorant on economic issues during an exchange on the increase in the capital gains tax.
The Minister of Public Services and Procurement, Jean-Yves Duclos, usually impassive in the face of Conservative attacks, now takes pleasure in calling Pierre Poilievre “insulter in chief”, an allusion to the leader’s strategy conservative to describe the mayors of the cities of Montreal and Quebec as “incompetent”.
Liberal MP from Eastern Ontario Francis Drouin gave the signal for this shift by the Liberals in committee, at the beginning of May, by calling two witnesses “full of crap” and “extremists” because they had established a link between postsecondary education in English and the decline of French in Quebec.
During debates in the Commons or during parliamentary committee meetings, Bloc members refrain from participating in this festival of insults.
Conversely, Yves-François Blanchet often describes his party as the “adult in the room” while childish exchanges multiply in Parliament. A few examples quickly come to mind.
The Bloc Québécois demonstrated this on the issue of immigration, by first raising last year the crisis that was hanging over the nose of the federal government in the face of the massive arrival of immigrants which exceeds the reception capacities of the Quebec and other provinces. Bloc MP Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe questioned the Minister of Immigration on numerous occasions, intelligently, without falling into vulgar stereotypes. Today, the rest of Canada is rallying behind the Bloc Québécois’s warnings.
Without a doubt, the defense of the French language, both in Quebec and in the rest of the country, would not be the priority that it has become in Ottawa if the Bloc Québécois did not make it a daily obsession.
On the issue of foreign interference, the Bloc also stood out recently by proposing a solution to the other parties to get to the bottom of the hard-hitting allegations made by a committee according to which parliamentarians participated in foreign interference activities carried out on the Canadian soil through China and India.
The Bloc passed a resolution in the Commons asking the Commission on Foreign Interference to clarify this matter. The motion was adopted almost unanimously.
In addition, Yves-François Blanchet decided to obtain the security clearance required to be able to read the unredacted documents of the Committee of Parliamentarians on National Security and Intelligence. He wants to ensure that no elected representative from the Bloc Québécois has acted in a perfidious manner. Meanwhile, Pierre Poilievre refused to take the same step, on the grounds that his hands would subsequently be tied by the secrecy surrounding the information he had read.
“We are supposed to behave with a sense of the State within the institutions as they currently exist. Unfortunately, Quebec is part of Canada. Unfortunately, we are also obliged to protect Canadian democratic institutions. I have more messages than ever from people who say to me: “How is it that it is the independence leader who has the responsible position in the Canadian Parliament?” », Confided Mr. Blanchet during a recent interview.
Michel Gauthier would probably have a ready answer. “The institution is sacred! »