Quebec Election 2014; Not Much to See, But Watch The Fun of Watching Many Diving Into Their Fainting Couches!

Aaaarrrrggghhhh!! She blows!  La Marois went and did what many were predicting she’d do — she called an election for April 7 — a short campaign at that.  Polls seem to indicate that La Marois and the PQ are primed to win a majority. Already many, particularly the Angryphone set are all choking on their pearls.  Referendum on sovereignty is already a speculating. I have to admit, my guilty pleasure these days is just watching them all fall over themselves. That big shiny distraction known as the Charter of Values front and centre again. I mean, there is unrest in the Ukraine.  There are countries in crisis like Syria. At home in Harperland,  the oil sands territory where there are more cancer numbers, particularly around Aboriginal communities. Our universal health care is in jeopardy. The Prime Minister is a sociopathic dictator with a partisan lapdog, Skippy Poilievre,  shoving an unfair election act being rammed through the house past a hapless and hopeless opposition. I could go on… but no, the Charter of Values and Angryphones trying to make Quebec as Anglo as anywhere west of Ottawa and sovereignty talk dictate. I bet ol’ Stevie Harper is laughing to the point his Metamucil is spilling from his nose.

For openers, boys n girls, this election campaign is going to be pretty boring. Predictable, really. La Marois will campaign on her shiny Charter of Values and identity.  Dr. Philippe Couillard will want to talk “economy” and ol’ Franky Legault will whine about how the big bad unions have way too much power and how the PQ is supposedly beholden to them.  Uh, yeah!

The polls! The polls! The PQ are in majority territory, they cry! Honestly, boys n girls, have we not learned anything about polls in recent years? Polls have been getting election predictions wrong in the last several years. No pollster ever predicted a Harpercon majority–they got one, and I predicted here over a year before that election.  They predicted a Wildrose majority in Alberta and the death of Alison Redford and the Progressive Conservatives — Reford and the PCs came in with a comfortable majority. They predicted a huge Adrian Dix and NDP sweep in BC, again, Chrissy Clarke and her “Liberals” won a majority despite her losing her own seat. They also predicted a sweeping majority for the PQ; they barely eked out a minority, beating the disgraced Charest Liberals by a paltry 4 seats.  Here’s a CK prediction–another PQ minority. Perhaps an increased one, but nonetheless, not a majority.

For openers, many living in rural regions of Quebec may well like the Charter of Values, however, many of those ridings were former ADQ now CAQ territories. Regions where folks vote Harpercons in.  Some may gravitate to the PQ due to the Charter of Values, but there are not enough of them to vote in a PQ majority.  The vote amongst those ridings will once again be split between the PQ and CAQ.

La Marois appears to make the Charter of Values her ballot box question. There is not enough support for the Charter of Values in Montreal for her to win. She needs  many Montreal seats to get that majority. She won’t get enough of them. If she were smart, she’d campaign on being the only one ready to do battle with ol’ Stevie Spiteful and his flunkies in Ottawa.  I think it’s a given that Dr. Phil and Franky would brown nose Harper any chance they got.  She won’t, though.

Basically, the real numbers are in the number of seats La Marois and the PQ can win, not unreliable polls.

Secondly, La Marois’s personal popularity has not gone up. In fact, she remains the least popular PQ leader since Andre Boisclair. Even folks in her own party have had the knives wielding around her for some time now. There is no reason to believe this will not continue.  Should she only eke out another minority, I believe it’s a given that she will be thrown under the bus once and for all.  Someone else will take the lead. However, that is another subject for another time.  The only advantage she has is that ol’ Dr. Phil and Franky are about as popular as she is, perhaps even less so.

I also love how there is referendum speculation already, as if it would be attached to the upcoming provincial election. Seriously.  They are two separate acts.  We’re only voting for the premier and the government we want to lead us, not on sovereignty. Yeesh! Remember, boys n girls, she can’t call any referendum without a majority and she won’t get it.  Even if she did get that majority, this is no guarantee she’ll have a referendum. She may not be a great personality, but she isn’t stupid.  She won’t hold one unless she believes sovereignty can win. If those winning conditions come up, it will be because of dear Stevie Spiteful and the Harpercons, whose path to destruction have made Canada unrecognizable. Again, another subject for another time.

Much to my chagrin, the Charbonneau Inquiry will be suspending their proceedings until after the April 7 election. Dang!  Having the inquiry go on would’ve probably been the only thing that would’ve kept this campaign interesting. If any worms crawled out from the Inquiry on either the PQ or the Liberals or even on Franky Legault during his heyday as a Pequiste,  voters would’ve been better informed on what choice to make. Alas, that is not to be.

There will be the angry phone set writing their fear mongering columns feverishly, while other more important events and actions will go virtually unnoticed.  Watch the Charter of Values take over while Dr. Phil’s ethical problems of 2008 and his pro private for profit health care stance go largely unnoticed.  Here the cries of not another referendum, while Harper & Skippy Poilievre ram an undemocratic and unfair election act through parliament.  Typically sad.  Once again, a shallow campaign while larger more important issues take a back seat.

Despite the fact that this election campaign will be predictable and boring, I do urge my fellow Quebecers to go vote on April 7.