Election Notebook

Ottawa Armageddon, Lexus controversy,
wind power and voting rights

by PATRICK LEJTENYI

•Election? In Quebec? Uh, who cares now? The looming Dec. 8 Liberal blow-out has been officially eclipsed by the looming Dec. 8 Liberal-NDP-Bloc putsch currently being plotted in Ottawa. This is about as high as political drama gets in Canada, and while the national media is wetting itself over the prospect of federal politics becoming more than passingly interesting—for one week at least—voters are getting ornery, fed up and more than a little angry. Which is understandable. It should be noted, however, that Quebecers are more inclined than most Canadians to the idea of an anti-Harper coalition, according to La Presse. Seventy-six per cent of respondents said they’d rather see a coalition government, while only 15 per cent said they’d prefer another election.

•However, for this final installment of this edition of EN, we will focus our attention on the subject at hand. Since the election’s media spotlight has been swivelled onto the Revenge of Stéphane Dion show, the Big Three leaders are being asked what they make of the matter. Jean Charest made a point of keeping shtum, saying he has “no intention of commenting on what is happening in Ottawa.” Pauline Marois, however, is rubbing her hands, gloating that Gilles Duceppe’s participation in a coalition government will guarantee a $1-billion cash flow down the Ottawa River. She also made a disturbing reference to Jean Charest being “on his knees before Harper.” She didn’t clarify whether he was kneeling as a supplicant or as something else. And Mario Dumont spat a pox o’ all their houses, but reserved special venom for the Bloc, who, instead of burying Stéphane Dion, praised him by supporting his nomination for prime minister in the increasingly likely event this thing goes through. (Two Shakespeare references in one sentence! That’s what an English education gets you in this province).

•Jean Charest hasn’t won yet, but the confident appearance of imminent victory can be as important to voters as any last-minute glad-handing on the campaign trail. And so Pauline Marois and Mario Dumont are expressing feigned outrage at the three hybrid Lexus limos the Liberal party has put at his and his wife’s disposal. Charest gets two—one for Montreal, one for Quebec City—while his wife Michèle gets one (bodyguard/driver included). The premier says the SQ bought them for him, and that they’re both for security measures and cheaper than renting ordinary cars. But Marois accused him of having a need to “flash his power,” and Dumont said buying three luxury cars during an economic crisis smacks of bad taste.

•Two parties that have garnered close to zero interest or coverage in this election are the lefty Québec solidaire and the provincial Green Party. In previous campaigns, both QS and the Greens could count on some, if not much, free publicity in the way of novelty and voter disinterest in the three bigger parties. This time around, the big storyline is the ADQ’s collapse to the Liberals’ benefit. Nevertheless, on Monday QS unveiled their energy policy, which called for a provincial nationalization of the local wind energy industry. QS has been big on renewable energy and sustainable development, which is great as far as that goes. But spending $6-billion on buying the nascent wind power industry here is likely a non-starter, for two reasons: first, nobody’s going to do much spending outside a fiscal stimulus package in these dark economic times, and second, Jean Charest, the likely premier come Tuesday, has never been a huge fan of government meddling in business when the private sector can do the job.

• If Montreal lawyer Julius Grey wins his latest case, the electoral voting system in Canada—and Quebec—could change radically. The media-loving Grey argued in Quebec Superior Court on Monday that the current first-past-the-post system is inherently unfair, unconstitutional and robs voters of their right to have their voices heard. The Association pour la revendication des droits démocratiques, the group Grey is representing, is calling for a proportional representation system, which, while undoubtedly more fair, would include even more parties in various legislatures, gumming up the works and making it more difficult to govern. It’s an old fight, one consistently championed by smaller parties, but has very little real chance of becoming reality. A decision is expected some time in the new year.