In a book on behavioral biology entitled The mice cluck, the bats singI found an example of the feathered people which reminds me a little of what happened in Jean-Talon’s riding on October 2.
In the black-headed cardinal, a small bird from North America, both parents take turns incubating the eggs and caring for the young. But, if the male who wanders around in the woods takes a long time to come back to do his shift, the female would improvise a melody to make it believe that a rival has entered its territory. A missive that pushes the wanderer to return immediately to protect his territorial gains. Once there, he realizes that he has more eggs to hatch than an opponent to challenge.
Because of the popular affection towards him which seemed unshakeable, like the male of the black-headed cardinal who no longer responds to messages from his partner, François Legault had become too comfortable. However, in love and even in friendship, when we begin to take the other for granted, separation is never far away. This is how François found himself completely shaken by the defeat in Jean-Talon.
This salvo which seems to announce the end of his very long honeymoon with the French-speaking vote hurt. The heartache and anxiety of exclusion even led him to resurrect the third link on a whim.
A project that Geneviève Guilbault had nevertheless cavalierly buried with concrete arguments.
However, beyond the abandonment of this great electoral promise, it is the crisis of confidence in the Prime Minister’s words which especially hurt. Trust, says popular wisdom, is like a sandcastle: it is difficult to build, but very easy to destroy.
However, to obtain a broader portrait of the discontent which led to what some call the Jean-Talon d’Achille of François Legault, to the effect of the third link, we must add the part of inflation, the cost of life, the housing crisis, numerous problems in the education and health systems, tensions with unions and even the case of Joëlle Boutin causing cynicism in politics in The joust after abandoning his Jean-Talon voters at the start of his mandate.
To complete the portrait, we must also add the effectiveness of the PQ electoral machine, the quality of its candidate and the place that Paul St-Pierre Plamondon (PSPP) now occupies in the hearts of many Quebecers.
Yes, there is in PSPP a mixture of intelligence, kindness and fragility which touches and seduces even the most convinced federalists.
François Legault did not see this striking force coming when, pumped up during the last electoral campaign, he jovially declared in Rivière-du-Loup: “Are we giving our friend Pascal a good ride, there? He will be surprised. » By planning to deal the fatal blow to the one he considered to be the last symbol of sovereignty over artificial respirators, he certainly did not foresee this resurrection of the PQ which made the same Pascal Bérubé cry with joy on Monday evening .
When Prime Minister Legault also declared in the House, in a reductive manner, that PSPP owed its election to the theft of leaflets from the solidarity candidate in the riding of Camille-Laurin, he did not see this evening of October 2 coming.
François Legault was tricked by the impenetrable ways of politics which force us to relearn this duty of humility that he often repeats to his caucus.
I also believe that he made a blunder by advantageously misleading voters with such a big promise. By acting in this way, he fell into these electoral mystifications which erode confidence in institutions, fuel cynicism and lead liberal democracies to the brink of the abyss. Why this spectacular turnaround on the third link? I have the impression that the inability to cope with the slightest ostensible disappointment of French-speaking Quebecers towards him has something to do with this hasty decision by François Legault.
Perhaps the resurrection of the third link, which will perhaps become the third bridge, also owes to this little light named Poilievre which sparkles on the horizon. In any case, digging up this project the day after this defeat is like waking up a zombie that risks quickly coming back to haunt the CAQ. Indeed, if the idea makes the deputies of the national capital and the South Shore, still in the Quebec region, applaud, it will end up disgusting in the other part of the caucus which only sees episodes of turbulence , inconsistency and media discredit to come.
One thing is certain, Pandora’s box is open and the chef’s decision is final. All options, he said, are on the table to rebuild bridges and links between the CAQ and the voters of the Quebec-Bellechasse territory. Like the male cardinal whose deaf ear cost him his place, for several years now, the songs of response from the national capital no longer seemed to resonate with the very dominant Coalition Avenir Québec. She no longer considered it necessary to return to protect her territorial gains.
However, this time, the missive that François Legault thought was a misleading melody turned into a substitute parade in a constituency that was still on Tinder. For how long ? To be continued.