The designation of “star candidate” is not controlled.
Posted at 7:00 a.m.
It is subjective and over time it shrinks. She came to mean: a person who appears on TV.
It is not a coincidence.
Politics is about communications, and streaming is a beast that constantly needs to be fed. But there is more. Power is concentrated in the Prime Minister’s office. This is true both in Ottawa and in Quebec, and this is true for all parties.
The ideal candidate is the one who knows how to relay the message.
The people in power will not admit that their influence is proportional to the length of the cord which separates them from the big boss. Retirees, however, are more vocal.
“The government is destroying the public service”, worried Paul Tellier, ex-clerk of the Privy Council last week – the deputy minister of the head of government1. Everything is decided at the top of the pyramid, he laments. According to him, senior civil servants struggle to assert their expertise.
This observation could be repeated for the ministers.
This partly explains why candidates like Bernard Drainville and Caroline St-Hilaire are so coveted. They know the media traps.
But there is a perverse effect in reserving the label of “star” for people who are already famous. We talk less about the other candidates who have acquired a useful background in the shadow of the spotlight.
For example, a few days ago, the CAQ recruited Sonia Bélanger, President and CEO of the CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal. His announcement generated modest interest, for a few hours at best.
Despite their disappointing results in the polls, the Liberals, Parti Québécois and Solidaires have also attracted candidates who are ready to suspend an enviable career.
By formalizing his candidacy on Tuesday, Bernard Drainville explained that Quebecers were turning their backs on independence. Still, by rallying to the nationalist federalists of the CAQ, he contributes to the problem he says he sees.
Others, like Alexis Deschênes, a seasoned ex-journalist turned lawyer, argue the opposite. Since separatism is faltering, the latter wants to use his talent to revive it by running for the PQ in Bonaventure.
PHOTO ARCHIVES LE NOUVELLISTE
Alexis Deschênes, candidate for the Parti Québécois nomination in Bonaventure
Principles interest him more than power. He will be supported by lawyer Stéphane Handfield, who is trying his luck again in Masson. After working at the Immigration and Refugee Board, he notably defended clients such as Dany Villanueva and Carles Puigdemont.
He will be able to contradict those who accuse the PQ of lacking openness to immigrants. Another choice take: Pierre Nantel, who left a job in the media of Quebecor to try his luck with another party.
Among the liberal takes: Fred Beauchemin (Marguerite-Bourgeoys), managing director and head of capital markets at Scotiabank; André A. Morin (Acadie), Chief Federal Prosecutor of the Public Prosecution Service of Canada for the Quebec region; Désirée McGraw (Notre-Dame-de-Grâce), rector of Pearson College and one of the 100 most influential women in Canada according to the Financial Post.
To this list is added a rather rare specimen among the Liberals: an actor, ex-half of Crampe en masse, Mathieu Gratton (Laporte).
Certainly, this does not equal the vintage of 2014, when Philippe Couillard had notably presented the renowned forecaster Carlos Leitão and the economist of the Bank of Canada Martin Coiteux, who was broken in the media game. But given the unpopularity of the Liberals, it was hard to do better.
If the liberals mainly draw from their usual ideological pool, the solidarity ones are trying to change their face.
They will put on their posts doctors (Mélissa Généreux and Isabelle Leblanc), a representative of the regions (Philippe Pagé, mayor of Saint-Camille and director general of the Federation of the next generation of farmers), a lawyer specializing in immigration (Guillaume Cliche-Rivard ), a professor of economics at the University of Quebec in Outaouais (Mathieu Perron-Dufour) and, finally, an activist to carry the voice of the First Nations and Inuit who populate Ungava (Maïtée Labrecque-Saganash).
It is difficult to know who will make a good deputy or minister. Former so-called “star” recruits have often disappointed. The list is long… At the federal level, just think of the rickety reign of Michael Ignatieff, a star philosopher who collapsed during the election campaign.
Conversely, unknown candidates with a modest CV end up revealing themselves. In their early days, PQ members Véronique Hivon and Sylvain Gaudreault were not stars. But over time, they turned out to be exceptional parliamentarians. The same could be said today of liberal Marwah Rizqy.
Politics is a special profession, and it is difficult to know who will excel in it. We should therefore be more interested in those who are not yet stars. Because everyone can surprise, for better or for worse.