Election Notebook

>> Debates, downers, bigots and blockades

by PATRICK LEJTENYI

Thanks to the surging ADQ and lethargic PQ campaigns, there’s talk of a minority government this time around, for only the second time in Quebec history, and that means it’s number crunching time. A CROP poll for La Presse published this weekend showed the following: A whopping 57 per cent of the 1,000 respondents were very or somewhat unsatisfied with the government, 39 per cent said they were very or somewhat satisfied and four per cent had no opinion. But the satisfied voters won’t necessarily be voting Liberal. Of all voters, one-third said they’d vote Liberal, 29 per cent PQ, 26 per cent ADQ and Scott McKay’s Green Party and Françoise David’s Québec solidaire got six per cent each. Francophone voters still like the PQ, with 32 per cent saying they’d vote for the party, even if Boisclair’s numbers are way down (only 19 per cent of all voters said they consider him the most capable leader). Thirty-one per cent of francophones said they’d vote ADQ and only 24 Liberal—although Charest still leads the confidence pack, with 31 per cent of voters saying they thought him most capable, compared to 29 per cent saying the same of Dumont. A CROP spokesperson said this was the tightest election in memory, while other numbers say as many as 45 per cent of voters might change their minds between now and March 26, especially following Tuesday’s debate.

Speaking of the debate, count EN among those who think Mario Dumont owned it—until his big showstopper backfired. Clearly the most passionate, and with some of the widest-ranging subjects (Babies! Business! Old folks! Two-tier healthcare! etc.), Dumont blew his momentum when he produced a document—a strict no-no, according to debate rules, by the way—and waved it around, saying Charest knew—he knew! Yes, he knew!—that the de la Concorde overpass in Laval was about to collapse, and did nothing. Charest very coolly rebuffed it, claiming total ignorance and urged Dumont to submit it to the investigating committee. Dumont was then not-so-gently reminded by the Premier and moderator Jacques Moisan to put the document away.

Does PQ leader André Boisclair need a lesson in manners? Someone should tell him it’s rude, and annoying, to interrupt someone when they’re speaking. Anyone debating Boisclair, especially Mario Dumont, was lucky to finish a sentence with Boisclair’s constant butting in, repeating the same question over and over. The interruption thing a tricky debate strategy, and only the best can pull it off. Boisclair didn’t.

Not participating in Tuesday’s debate were reps from the Green Party and Québec solidaire, much to their leaders’ dismay. McKay and David took to the airwaves post-debate to vent their spleen about being left out, but all is not lost. The Réseau de l’information de Radio-Canada, the 24-hour French-language news channel, is hosting an hour-and-a-half debate between representatives for the five parties tonight, Thursday, March 15, beginning at 7 p.m. Those who want to catch either that or Tuesday’s debate can still check them out online at Radio-Canada’s Web site.

Hey, where’s the fun this election? Times past, we could count at least on some prankster pulling a gag, chucking a pie or doing something to liven up what’s often a stilted (and, talking about Election 2007, frankly dull) contest. No such luck this year. So far this campaign’s been remarkably downcast: homophobic radio jocks, Boisclair’s waterworks, Dumont stoking up the nationalist/latent racist sentiment in the regions…… What a downer.

Speaking of the odious Louis Champagne, the Jonquières radio jock who said the PQ was like a “fag club,” he’s been suspended by station-owners Corus but has refused to apologize for his remarks. In fact, he turned his guns on “Plateau artists” and “pseudo-intellectuals” who don’t tolerate “the right to think otherwise” and blasted them for turning his remarks into “‘crimes against humanity’ worthy of an immediate public lynching.” Take that you pussies!

The mini-blockade of Highway 117 earlier this week in the Parc de la Vérendrye by First Nations people upset with logging rights didn’t faze the three big leaders. All three refused to comment on the situation, saying they were too busy preparing for the debate. But First Nations don’t usually figure big in electoral campaigns anyway, mostly because a) most Natives consider participating in Canadian elections a gesture of submission to colonial power structure, so they don’t vote, and b) First Nations relations land under federal jurisdiction, even though many Natives say more and more responsibilities are being downloaded to the provinces.