Bernard Drainville, Martine Biron, Caroline St-Hilaire… the CAQ’s appetite for media stars is not just an illusion. The figures show that François Legault’s party is, by far, the one with the most former journalists and other communication professionals among its candidates.
Of the 122 candidates announced for the Coalition Avenir Québec, there are 21 personalities from the media world (columnists, journalists, hosts, public relations, communicators) of which fifteen are women, according to our analysis. This represents 17.2% of its candidates.
After the CAQ, the parties with the most media personalities are the Liberal Party of Quebec and Quebec Solidaire, with eight each.
During the last campaign, the CAQ was also the party that relied the most on stars, who then represented 21% of its candidates.
The interest in these personalities already present in the public space is obvious: they quickly become star candidates, explains Mireille Lalancette, professor of political communication at the University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières.
Ahead
“These are known and recognized people, and then they have a head start in the community, because they are already headliners. We already know the speech,” she said.
“These people also have an understanding of the political game, they are people who express themselves well, who can organize their thoughts,” she continues.
Of course, we are interested in their talent as communicators, because politics requires interacting with citizens, with the media, at the National Assembly, etc.
“You have to be able to connect with different audiences. We do not speak in the same way to a group of young people, to activists, to the elderly, to journalists, to political opponents, ”illustrates the professor.
More than before
We can mention René Lévesque, Pierre Duchesne or Jean-Pierre Charbonneau to illustrate that the phenomenon is not new. However, it seems to have grown in recent years, especially with the CAQ.
“We are in an era of communication and over-communication. There are a lot more media than at the time of René Lévesque […] and there are many more communication programs and training. So that also plays a role, ”says Ms. Lalancette.
Political attachés are also sometimes candidates for constituencies that are more difficult to win. This is the case of Rébecca Guénard-Chouinard, former communications advisor to Minister Christian Dubé. The party announced Monday that she would be a candidate in Jacques-Cartier, a liberal castle. “It’s a way to keep activists active and give them field experience that can be interesting,” says Ms. Lalancette.
The pros of communication by party
(Compared to the number of candidates announced to date)
- QAC: 21/122 (17.2%)
- QLP: 8/75 (10.6%)
- QP: 7/82 (8.5%)
- SQ: 8/123 (6.5%)
- PCQ: 2/117 (1.7%)
Overall: 46/519 (8.8%)
Source: Data compiled by Le Journal