Lead-up to BATTLE QUEBEC
Quebec election: The numbers
Who is this union really looking out for?
Quebec Premier Jean Charest.
Credits: STEVENS LEBLANC/QMI Agency
If today's election in Quebec becomes Jean Charest's predicted swan song, for the first time in memory Quebec's premier will be reaching for the Berlitz guide if and when she bothers to talk to the rest of the country.
Parti Quebecois Leader Pauline Marois' command of the English language is sorely lacking and that also goes for Coalition Avenir Quebec boss Francois Legault, who could very well end up as opposition leader in Quebec's National Assembly.
For Canada's two solitudes, this will mean the political equivalent of a Berlin Wall and -- could trigger another exodus of anglophone businesses as was seen in the late '70s when the Parti Quebecois first came to power making loud noises about separation and "maitres chez nous."
This time, aside from quashing any anglophone rights that still exist, there's fears of religious intolerance, the stigmatizing of visible minorities and the instant breakdown of dialogue between Quebec and the Rest of Canada. And that's just for starters.
Recent polls indicate that more than two-thirds of Quebecers are hankering for change, fed up as they are with the end results of Charest's last three mandates, the continuous smell of corruption surrounding his government, and all the social unrest that has pre-dated this election.
With even anglophone ridings showing low levels of Liberal support, Charest's own seat in Sherbrooke -- his home riding for nearly three decades -- appears to show strong signs of being lost in the clamour.
Nothing more can be done from here, of course. Always volatile when it comes to politics, it is up to Quebecers to decide their destiny today.
Marois' PQ, as we have previously stated, has taken the kind of hard line that defines fascism. We see her as the worst choice possible. Even the consensus media has found some backbone, and has called Marois everything from a "redneck" to a "xenophobic," punctuating these observations by pointing to a PQ campaign video that fails to show a single non-white face in its panorama of Quebec society.
Voter frustrations are totally understandable, yet they are caught between a rock and a hard place. Jean Charest's Liberals deserve annihilation, not re-election, yet the racist platform of Pauline Marois' PQ is despicable. This leaves only Francois Legault, who says he'd put the question of sovereignty aside ... for now.
What a can of worms.
Parti Quebecois Leader Pauline Marois' command of the English language is sorely lacking and that also goes for Coalition Avenir Quebec boss Francois Legault, who could very well end up as opposition leader in Quebec's National Assembly.
For Canada's two solitudes, this will mean the political equivalent of a Berlin Wall and -- could trigger another exodus of anglophone businesses as was seen in the late '70s when the Parti Quebecois first came to power making loud noises about separation and "maitres chez nous."
This time, aside from quashing any anglophone rights that still exist, there's fears of religious intolerance, the stigmatizing of visible minorities and the instant breakdown of dialogue between Quebec and the Rest of Canada. And that's just for starters.
Recent polls indicate that more than two-thirds of Quebecers are hankering for change, fed up as they are with the end results of Charest's last three mandates, the continuous smell of corruption surrounding his government, and all the social unrest that has pre-dated this election.
With even anglophone ridings showing low levels of Liberal support, Charest's own seat in Sherbrooke -- his home riding for nearly three decades -- appears to show strong signs of being lost in the clamour.
Nothing more can be done from here, of course. Always volatile when it comes to politics, it is up to Quebecers to decide their destiny today.
Marois' PQ, as we have previously stated, has taken the kind of hard line that defines fascism. We see her as the worst choice possible. Even the consensus media has found some backbone, and has called Marois everything from a "redneck" to a "xenophobic," punctuating these observations by pointing to a PQ campaign video that fails to show a single non-white face in its panorama of Quebec society.
Voter frustrations are totally understandable, yet they are caught between a rock and a hard place. Jean Charest's Liberals deserve annihilation, not re-election, yet the racist platform of Pauline Marois' PQ is despicable. This leaves only Francois Legault, who says he'd put the question of sovereignty aside ... for now.
What a can of worms.
