We can write novels speculating why Charest wouldn’t want a commission, but we can’t rule out that this is an age of “gotcha” politics. As mentioned, Bastarache was one such commission. If one paid any attention, Bellemare had little credibility; he just came off as a disgruntled man who’s political career failed. Questions to be asked: Why did he wait all those years? And then the refusals to testify, memory lapses, lack of evidence, etc., yet the public already had it’s mind made up for them by the media. We live in an age, as you know, where misinformation is more powerful than the actual truth.

I’m saying the PQ isn’t squeaky clean, neither; they just didn’t get caught. If the construction companies are involved with organized crime as well. Construction crimes and alleged ties to mobsters wouldn’t be a new thing; that would date back many, many years. If there is to be an inquiry, it would have to go back all those years.

I’m also saying that if you simply remove Jean Charest, the construction industry and alleged mobster links wouldn’t magically disappear neither, meaning whether the PQ or some right winged small-c coalition took over, they too, would be mired with the same problems.

I’m also in favour of Drainville-Girard-Marceau proposal–it’s a start. Although, I’m of the opinion that there should be no private financing of parties; they should be funded publicly, entirely. A better step to make them accountable to the people they govern. But, the proposal is a great start, I’ll give you that.

Marois is desperate because she wants to be premier more than finding the truth; more than anything else. Look back in this woman’s history as health minister or other ministries she held when the PQ were in power; noiseless toilets and buying out doctors and nurses’ contracts, thus closing smaller community hospitals come to mind, and gawd whatever else we don’t know. I’m saying the woman isn’t squeaky clean herself. She is desperate because as you know, she faces a leadership confidence vote April 15, 2011. Surely, you must have noticed the knives circling around her. As a leader, her polling numbers suck; party elders like Jacques Parizeau and Bernard Landry have zero confidance in her ability; while they may no longer be MNAs, I’m sure what they say withing that party hold a lot of weight. She will be gone and someone else will replace her.

In fact, I daresay she’s probably more desperate than Charest would be in a sense; Charest is a smart man; he sees the writing on the wall, surely; he knows that he and his party are lame ducks. I’m sure he himself wants to just get out of dodge, but looking for a way out.

As for Marois, I had always been of the belief that when she was asked to come back to the PQ in 2007 to bring the broke third place party back out of its’ slump, I believe they never intended for her to be premier, only to bring the party back up. Remember, Gilles Duceppe wanted to throw his hat into the ring, but backed out? Apparently, he was told that he was still needed in Ottawa.

With all due respect, I disagree. Far from it. In fact, inquiries have been used many times in Quebec politics to clean up corruption scandals in the past and and have led to institutional reforms. Take the Salvas Commission in 1962, the Cliche, Keable commissions and the CECO in the 70s.

Yes, commissions turn to circuses. That’s fine. Sunlight can be an effective disinfectant for the many chamber of commerce-sponsored tinpot despots populating city halls, their contractor friends, and their contacts in the underworld.

I could go on and on on why a commission is better than relying exclusively on police work, but ask yourself one thing? Why Charest is so adamant about not having a commission? Follow the money…

In fact, if you’re serious about political financing reform in Quebec, an inquiry is the way to expose shady money in politics as a problem. I’m personally in favor of Drainville-Girard-Marceau proposal to limit political contribution to bona fide members of parties (with a $100 ceiling), to finance parties by cancelling the tax refund for political contributions and to use the sum to finance the parties directly, which makes it revenue-neutral.

A commission of inquiry is inevitable. It’s now, or in two years time. Pauline Marois is not desperate. She has Charest exactly where she wants him. In the ropes.

The point I was trying to make in my post is that no Quebec party has been, nor will any future Quebec party, be they right, center, left or sovereigntist or federalist is immune to the systemic problems that exist unless someone dares to tackle the task of a complete systemic overhaul. In other words, the Parti Quebecois ain’t so squeaky clean themselves.

Unlike Campbell, who, from what I’ve been learning from you, Logan, and other BC bloggers, is obviously unliked from within his own party, Charest still seems to have support from the QC Liberals. But then, as I’ve pointed out, who in their right mind would want to take over an embattled, lame duck party? I guarantee, no one wants it either from within or outside the party, itself.

As a life long Quebecer, I see the pattern continues; when the QC Liberals have been deemed to have governed for too long, and in the case of Charest, he is in a third consecutive term; a feat no QC gov’t in history has accomplished since Maurice Duplessis and the Union Nationale; too long for any uppity separatist to stand. If not for Bellemare, Bastarache commission, the construction industry and all that, it would have had to have been invented. The Common Front isn’t having a general strike these days; most if not all have signed new collective agreements; that’s out of the way. Bill 115 (language law) isn’t enough of a crisis. Then there was that gawd awful budget with proposed 25$ per visit to the health care system, but that was struck down not long ago, thanks to special interest groups and grass roots movements taking the streets and protesting. There is still the end of year health care contribution, but nearly every province has one these days…so not reinventing the wheel here.

And yes, the neo-libertarians, in the form of the new Quebec tea-partiers; The Reseau Liberte Quebec-Quebec Freedom Network (not a party–yet!), as well as another so-called movement, Force Quebec which is hypothetical and mythical, as well as none other than Mad Max Bernier, would love to take over the province of Quebec; but not the Liberals, but some rainbow small-c coalition. That makes my skin crawl to say the least. Rumours are a flyin’ indeed.

The cynic in me has got to hand it to Charest though; you know how centrist politicians do what they can to hug the center by trying to please all of them? Well Charest tends to do stuff that pisses everyone off. Bill 115 is one such example.

Another thing to remember; The Bloc has distanced themselves from Charest’s troubles. Although, Charest did campaign for them in the 2008 federal election. I think that’s what got a lot of federalists pissed off with him. But I also believe that Duceppe may well be after Marois’s job and may be priming himself to leave the Bloc sometime in 2011. Marois will not win her leadership confidence vote this April.

So far, Stevie spiteful has stayed out of it, but there has never been any love lost between Charest and Stevie Harper. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear if any flunky acting on behalf of Stevie to tank Charest were involved. Once upon a time, before this mess began, Charest was seen as a potential successor to Harper for the Conservatives and according to pollsters back in the day, a politician who could get a majority. Not anymore now, of course. Still, I’m sure somewhere, Stevie is getting a chuckle of this.

Don’t apologize. It’s not a cliche. The systemic problems are a cliche. The fundraising problems exist in federal politics too. They’re turned into beggars in 3 piece suits because they must raise certain quotas. Hello corruption.

A good start to fixing the problem would be a total ban on private funding and having the parties funded entirely by public money, but over 60% of Canadians are even against the 1.95$ per vote subsidy. Shows how short sighted they are. They bitch at the corruption but slam an idea that would be helpful in curbing it.