Parti Québécois Balkanizes

[jimmy olsen]

The Judean People's Front!

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2011/09/19/graeme-hamilton-pq-is-the-gift-that-keeps-giving-to-jean-charest/#more-51117

Graeme Hamilton: PQ is the gift that keeps giving to Jean Charest
Dario Ayala / MONTREAL GAZETTE

Graeme Hamilton  Sep 19, 2011 – 1:50 PM ET | Last Updated: Sep 19, 2011 11:02 PM ET

Anyone wondering how Quebec Premier Jean Charest manages to maintain his smile while the bad news piles up around him need look no further than the National Assembly's opposition benches.

Just when Mr. Charest seems to be on the ropes, the sovereigntists decide that their time would be best spent pummelling one another.

Last week was a disastrous one for Mr. Charest as the issue of corruption and organized crime in the provincial construction industry resurfaced with a vengeance. A leaked report from the Liberal government's own anti-collusion squad detailed how bikers and the Mafia had infiltrated the province's highway construction industry. Transport Department employees were ill-equipped to confront elaborate schemes aimed at defrauding the government, the report found. In some cases, civil servants were actually complicit in construction firms' collusion.

Yet Mr. Charest seemed remarkably unconcerned by the findings. At a news conference Friday, two days after they were first reported, he said he had not got around to reading the report in detail.

With the legislature resuming sitting this week, it looked like the Liberals were in for a rough ride. Parti Québécois leader Pauline Marois gave a foretaste Friday when she urged Mr. Charest to resign. His refusal to call a public inquiry was evidence that he was protecting his party, she said. "And in protecting the Liberal Party, Mr. Charest is protecting the mafia, he is protecting organized crime."

Fast-forward to Monday, and it is Ms. Marois who finds herself under attack — from within the separatist ranks.

Jean-Martin Aussant, a Member of the National Assembly who quit the PQ to sit as an independent in June, announced the birth of a new separatist party. He plans to call it "Option nationale" and promises it will not pussyfoot around the sovereignty question as he accuses Ms. Marois of doing. He unveiled his plans in his Nicolet-Yamaska riding, where the PQ riding executive up and quit to join his cause.

Mr. Aussant said he would offer "a sincere and committed" push to sovereignty, implying that the PQ's effort is anything but. "We need a new party that has a clearer message about sovereignty and, above all, is not afraid to lose an election because it is talking about sovereignty," he said. He accused the PQ of avoiding discussion of sovereignty in a bid to attract a broad cross-section of the electorate.

"Sovereignty is not a playful dream," he said. "It is really a fact that Quebec is going to develop better if it controls all its decisions and all its tools for development, as all countries in the world do, without ever regretting their sovereignty."

Granted, "Don't be afraid to lose" is not the most persuasive rallying call for a new political party. And for a trained economist, Mr. Aussant's economic arguments are a little porous. He complained that the federal government use Quebecers' taxes to subsidize Ontario's auto industry, Alberta's oil sands, "war jets" and "war frigates," but never mentioned the nearly $8-billion Quebec stands to receive from Ottawa this year in equalization payments.

Mr. Aussant's Option nationale remains a party of one for now, but one is plenty to inflict damage on Ms. Marois' already wobbly leadership. Four other dissidents have quit the PQ caucus since May, and she is unable to shake the complaints from hardliners like Mr. Aussant that she is not sufficiently committed to achieving Quebec's independence. Mr. Aussant's party will become the third separatist party with representation in the National Assembly, contributing to the impression of a splintering movement.

At a news conference Monday, Ms. Marois tried to return attention to Mr. Charest, promising to table a bill this week to create a commission of inquiry into the corruption allegations. But she was quickly back on the defensive after a question on the initiative of Mr. Aussant, who until last spring was considered a rising PQ star. "Dividing the sovereigntist vote does not move the country closer to sovereignty," she said.

This week had offered Ms. Marois a perfect chance to shift the focus from her leadership to Mr. Charest's, but Mr. Aussant decided otherwise. The rules of etiquette governing such situations are unclear, but at the very least Mr. Charest should send the member for Nicolet-Yamaska some flowers.

[Zoupa]

Oh look, the Gazette is gloating. Colour me surprised.

[Malthus]

Heh.

Last week was a disastrous one for Mr. Charest as the issue of corruption and organized crime in the provincial construction industry resurfaced with a vengeance. A leaked report from the Liberal government's own anti-collusion squad detailed how bikers and the Mafia had infiltrated the province's highway construction industry. Transport Department employees were ill-equipped to confront elaborate schemes aimed at defrauding the government, the report found. In some cases, civil servants were actually complicit in construction firms' collusion.

Remember how pissed off you guys were to have Quebec branded as a province with a major organized crime and corruption problem?

[Neil]

You know, it doesn't really surprise me that the Quebec Liberals are corrupt.  Nor does it surprise me that absent a strong, respected leader like Bouchard or Parizeau that the PQ has a lot of infighting.  Sovereignty is a very big issue that can be come at from the left and the right, as well as by moderates and radicals.  I don't get as much Quebec news as the locals, but I've never read anything about Marois that indicates that she's the sort of leader that could hold the PQ together.

[viper37]

Remember how pissed off you guys were to have Quebec branded as a province with a major organized crime and corruption problem?

That's a slight distortion of facts.
McLeans said we were the most corrupt province in the country, without any hard evidence.
There's still no evidence that Ontario or BC aren't as corrupt.

[viper37]

I don't get as much Quebec news as the locals, but I've never read anything about Marois that indicates that she's the sort of leader that could hold the PQ together.

She's not.  She was not from the beginning, but she's power hungry, and it was her 3rd run to take the head of the party.  It was already weakened by the time she got it, there's not much more she could have done.
One faction wants an immediate referendum, well, a promise to hold a referendum as soon as the party gets to power, no governance, just a referendum.  Some want an election to declare sovereignty, some others say the idea should be on ice for a while and concentrate on making us stronger until we're ready.
Add the the hard left, majority in this party, trying to promote their agenda, a few centrists trying to go moderate on state's spending and you've got a recipe for disaster.

I doubt the PQ will survive the next election if Legault creates his party.  With the commies of Québec Solidaire, that just makes it 3 independantist parties (PQ, Parti Indépendantiste and Option Nationale).

[Malthus]

Remember how pissed off you guys were to have Quebec branded as a province with a major organized crime and corruption problem?

That's a slight distortion of facts.
McLeans said we were the most corrupt province in the country, without any hard evidence.
There's still no evidence that Ontario or BC aren't as corrupt.

I dunno. Where one's own gov't issues a report claiming a high degree of corrupt practices, that would seem to support the notion, no?

Could be that the other provinces are just as corrupt - but there is no evidence at all of that. Difficult to prove a negative! 

Perhaps an approach that would satisfy you would be "all of the publicly-available evidence released to date demostrates that Quebec is the most corrupt of the major provinces" with a footnote stating that it is possible that this finding is an artifact of the greater degree of scrutiny concerning corruption in Quebec. 

[Grey Fox]

We would be more satisfied if the Toronto media would never talk about us.

[Malthus]

We would be more satisfied if the Toronto media would never talk about us.

I would have thought an excessive level of government corruption would be of interest to people in Quebec.  After all, it's your money they are stealing, right?












Well, except for that $8 billion in transfer payments Quebec gets.

[Oexmelin]

You obviously do not read the Quebec press... It is not as if we are suddenly, and miraculously discovering these things from the G&M:

[viper37]

I dunno. Where one's own gov't issues a report claiming a high degree of corrupt practices, that would seem to support the notion, no?

We had the same for the Federal, with Gommery.  I can't imagine a serious magazine claiming Canada is the most corrupt country of the world.

Could be that the other provinces are just as corrupt - but there is no evidence at all of that. Difficult to prove a negative! 

But then, there's no evidence that Quebec is the most corrupt province.  If there's a comparative study, I want to see it

Perhaps an approach that would satisfy you would be "all of the publicly-available evidence released to date demostrates that Quebec is the most corrupt of the major provinces" with a footnote stating that it is possible that this finding is an artifact of the greater degree of scrutiny concerning corruption in Quebec. 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2010/05/18/bc-rail-corruption-trial.html

[viper37]

Well, except for that $8 billion in transfer payments Quebec gets.

It'd be interesting to see a comparative study on everything
How much money does Ontario gets for a bid to the Olympics (8billion$ vs 2 million$ for Quebec city), how much money does Ontario get in Federal research grant compared to other provinces, how much money does Alberta's environmental practices will cost us in the long term, how much money did Ontario and the Maritimes receives for the HST (1billion for the Maritimes in the 90s, 4.3 billion for Ontario, a few billion for B-C even if they finally rejected the proposal) vs 0$ for Quebec, how much money did Ontario get from its automotive industry since the mid-90s vs 0$ for Quebec, why is the natural resource not counted for Alberta and Newfoundland but it is for Quebec when it comes to transfer and equalization payments, why do some provinces get loan guarantees from the Feds but not Quebec, etc, etc.

I'd like very much to get a factual comparison of federal spending in Ontario, let's just say Ontario, for the last 20 years vs Federal spending in Quebec for the last 20 years, excluding these silly flags we were getting for Canada day.  Then at least, we'd get a basis for discussion.  I might even agree with you and support your point.  Heck, I want to get rid of that silly equalization payment scheme.  It's just a tool for the Feds to keep the provinces in line: shut your mouth or we'll keep your money.

As it is right now, you're taking one number, for one year, and extrapolate it for 150years.  That methodology hurts the finance guy that I am.   

Provinces should perceive 100% of their taxes, and then pay the Feds for what they get. If Ontario wants a big Federal gov taking care of everything for them, then they pay accordingly.  If Quebec wants a small Federal gov, we pay only our fair share.

[Valmy]

Besides how is $8 billion dollars very much money?

What next?  PEI is soaking the Feds for *zoom* ONE MILLION DOLLARS!

[Grey Fox]

Provinces should perceive 100% of their taxes, and then pay the Feds for what they get. If Ontario wants a big Federal gov taking care of everything for them, then they pay accordingly.  If Quebec wants a small Federal gov, we pay only our fair share.

The day the Provincial PMs put their pants on we'll discover that this is the most unifying issue Canada as ever seen.

[Grallon]

Besides how is $8 billion dollars very much money?

It's not so much the amount as a) that it comes out of their pockets and b) that it's intended for the whiny frogs.  Haven't you followed enough threads about Canada's internal wrangling to learn how biased English Canadians are when it comes to Quebec?



G.