To hear Pierre Poilievre explain why he wants to become Prime Minister of Canada, we almost get bored of Stephen Harper.
No need for a drawing to understand why Alain Rayes decided to leave his post as lieutenant of the Conservative Party of Canada (PCC) in Quebec in order to get involved in the race to succeed Erin O’Toole. Mr. Poilievre’s almost cartoonish populism, as it appears in his video presentationrisks opening a period of glaciation for the Conservatives in Quebec.
Mr Rayes wants a leader who would represent “progressive, centre-right economic values and ideals”. In short, the exact opposite of the member for Carleton. With the exception of his French, which is excellent, the goon of the PCC is at odds with the average Quebec voter, who nevertheless believes that reducing the state to its simplest expression is not the solution.
If, in the mind of Mr. Poilievre, it is first “the family and the community” which must ensure a “solid safety net”, Quebecers still believe in the welfare state inherited from the Quiet Revolution, despite its imperfections, as François Legault understood very well.
Everyone is fed up with sanitary measures, and mistakes have no doubt been made, both in Ottawa and in Quebec, but one shudders at the idea that a man like Mr. Poilievre could find himself one day at the head of government in times of pandemic.
It is true that the ways of politics are sometimes inscrutable and that the preferential system can produce unexpected results, as the last two races have demonstrated. To see the mood of the Conservatives for a few weeks, however, it is to wonder who will be able to stop Mr. Poilievre.
Erin O’Toole was undoubtedly clumsy in his attempt to refocus, but one would almost suspect a “progressive” who would like to embark on this galley of having masochistic tendencies. The race for his succession has not even begun that some are already talking about a coronation.
Once again, we are talking about the candidacy of Peter MacKay, which would no doubt be a lesser evil, but we would understand Conservative activists not wanting to elect a leader who has developed the image of a loser.
Mr. Rayes sees Jean Charest in his soup. Certainly, the latter has always given the impression of having become Prime Minister of Quebec reluctantly, for lack of having been able to be that of Canada, but he would almost look like an extraterrestrial in today’s CCP. .
If it is true that the Mâchurer investigation into the financing of the Liberal Party of Quebec has lost all credibility, its name nevertheless remains associated with a period of decline in political mores that many Quebecers are not about to forget.
Whether with or without Justin Trudeau, who seems increasingly absent, the Liberals would have every reason to be happy to face an opponent as polarizing as Mr. Poilievre, who would free up even more space in the center of the spectrum. politician, but the happiest would no doubt be the Bloc Québécois.
Despite occasional sympathy, Mr. O’Toole’s sad fate did not seem to bother Yves-François Blanchet much, who owes much of his party’s good results to the fall election last to the slippage of the moderator during the televised debate in English. Mr. Poilievre’s presence would certainly make his job easier. The confrontation between these two alley cats would not lack spice.
During the next federal election, the leader of the Bloc will certainly ask for nothing better than to once again become the unofficial spokesperson for Mr. Legault, as he proclaimed himself in 2019.
Last fall, Prime Minister Legault bet big on the election of an O’Toole government to advance his “New project for Quebec nationalists”. Even if Mr. Poilievre shares with the outgoing leader a more decentralized vision of federalism, in the tradition of the Conservative Party, Mr. Legault will not be able to appear with a man in whom Quebecers will rather see a dinosaur.
In the Bill 21 debate, Mr. O’Toole had adopted a policy of non-interference, even though he personally opposed it. Mr. Poilievre, who insisted on the right to freely express his religious beliefs in the English version of his video, will probably not have the same reservation.
The arrival of Mr. Poilievre could nevertheless have certain advantages. Mr. Legault could put Éric Duhaime and him in the same bag. Imagining the first in power in Ottawa and the second in Quebec is enough to give nightmares.