Last week’s vote sparked a wave of outrage at the monster distortions of popular representation in the National Assembly (NA) due to our archaic, if not totally undemocratic, electoral system. Having obtained only 41% of the votes cast by the population, the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) legitimately governs with a majority with 90 representatives out of 125, or 72% of the deputies making up Parliament Hill in Québec. Who can support such social injustice? Because that is what it is about.
In the last few days, Prime Minister François Legault even had the nerve to openly mock the indignant, which constitutes a real provocation for mobilization. The people should however thank him for being tickled like this, it is up to him to take the ball in stride! God we are soft sometimes, and at the most critical times in our history, very often. Rarely have we seen so much democratic distortion… in fact, no democracy at all.
However, Mr. Legault had committed in writing following his election in 2018, signature in support, to review our electoral system which deceives the popular will and at the same time undermines our democracy, which has become comparable to a monarchy. What are the other parties waiting for to come forward openly and show the NA a copy of this document signed by him? A cross-partisan approach is urgently needed to remind Mr. Legault of this and to demand that his promise be honored.
I challenge the parties to mobilize in this direction and to interrupt the work as long as our Prime Minister does not commit in writing to act before the end of his term, failing which he will govern illegitimately if he continues towards a another victory in 2026. This promise, which seems to have turned into a vague intention whose priority is no longer worth it, is one skeleton too many in the closet… To deny such an important signature for democracy, really, Mr. Legault ? Are you there? Do you like what you see in your mirror?
Combining passion, intelligence and experience
Meanwhile, the Parti Québécois (PQ) and Québec solidaire (QS) continue to stubbornly refuse to form an alliance, this alliance which would at least obtain a strong opposition in order to protect the interests of our society. If we analyze the results a little bit one riding at a time, QS seemed oddly well on the evening of October 3, winning several votes cast and often rising to second place in many ridings. He even settled comfortably in the center-east of the island of Montreal, an orange line cutting the city out from the Red Sea.
The PQ, unfortunately a few generations gone, and stretching out its agony with every election except this one, succeeded in bringing three high-caliber candidates into the NA, including its leader, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon (PSPP), who stood out the most over the weeks of the campaign. Based on the votes cast across the province, this alliance is the path of reason and heart.
It’s clear that QS avoids talking openly about sovereignty because he quickly realized that it doesn’t attract votes. Silencing certain more or less popular principles pays off politically. This is how he slips away, timid, slowly but surely. He is, however, the thinly veiled little brother of the PQ, as convinced as he is that the independence of Quebec is more than necessary in order to manage our own resources and protect our achievements, which seem to be rapidly withering, particularly in terms of language. and culture. A real disaster…
This alliance would combine passion, intelligence and experience, it’s not nothing. Having the courage of one’s convictions, clearly displaying one’s values, as PSPP has hammered throughout the last campaign, is what is called demonstrating intellectual honesty. No political artifice. QS should also take note…
Embody the hope of a people
In the meantime, we will at least have the consolation of witnessing, over the next four years, some debates intellectually higher than those which we have been able to attend previously thanks to future interventions by PSPP, even if the PQ’s speaking time will be equivalent to a trail of powdered sugar. The presence of Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois (GND) at the AN has so far made it possible to maintain the defense of left-wing values, but this remains insufficient to hope to make this wave grow. The young age of GND and its association with the student crisis of 2012 unfortunately does not yet give it enough credibility, but let us only dare to imagine the situation in four years…
The common GND-PSPP front would have this significant weight to counterbalance the pale opposition that the PLQ still risks offering us. To this end, what about the reaction of the Liberal leader to this possibility of an alliance of left-wing parties? She, who boasts of defending the arrival of a proportional electoral system because she is overwhelmed by the abusive CAQ, refuses to leave even a little room for QS and the PQ. The disease of power is contagious when it serves us.
And what if an internal referendum within each of the two parties among their respective members indicated a clear desire on the part of them to regroup to better survive and thus protect the voice of thousands of Quebecers who voted for them? Because, contrary to what seems to be well established as a trend, the party does not belong only to the leaders, although decisions are taken in close quarters. The party belongs to its members, it first represents all those who vote for it. It is important to remind this, especially to the chefs.
So what would happen if misplaced intellectual pride, which ultimately serves no purpose, was put aside at QS in order to offer this opening to the PQ, to reach out to them so that they join forces? By wanting too much to stand out, by wanting too much to embody the one through whom change will come, we only maintain immobility. With this alliance, we could then witness a new party, as lively, inspiring and promising as that of QS in the days of Amir Khadir and Françoise David who raised, more than worthily, the hopes of our people. But no, we are too soft…