Why the Quebec values charter hasn’t been a runaway success, PKP interview

Martin Patriquin’s analysis of why the Charter has not worked out the way the PQ hoped for:

Yet for a variety of reasons, the charter hasn’t been nearly the electoral success the PQ thought it would be. Durand calls the charter support “weak and volatile”, largely because the PQ lost nearly as much support as it gained. For PQ strategists, minister Bernard Drainville in particular, it must be a vexing question: why would a piece of legislation tailor-made to exploit the deep fears felt by French Quebecers be only a mitigated success?

One answer may be Quebecers aren’t as obsessed about language and identity as they once were. For all the charter’s sound and fury, the charter barely registers on Quebecers’ radar of priorities. They are far more preoccupied with the meat-and-potato issues of government spending, taxes and corruption, according to a L’Actualité poll conducted following the charter’s introduction. The charter was 10th out of a list off 11 priorities. The 11th priority? A sovereignist government.

There’s another reason why Quebecers might not be so peachy keen on the charter, one teased out in a telling Léger Marketing poll from January. Support for the charter, at 57 per cent amongst Francophones, plummeted by 17 points when Léger raised the spectre that people might lose their jobs as a result of what’s on their head or around their neck.

Why the Quebec values charter hasn’t been a runaway success.

And an interesting interview with Pierre Karl Peladeau, the star candidate for the PQ and media mogul who sent the PQ campaign off-message with his strong independence messaging at the beginning of the campaign:

C’est beau tout ça, vous parlez en tant qu’actionnaire de contrôle de Québecor, mais vous êtes en politique, M. Péladeau. Comment allez-vous faire pour éviter les conflits d’intérêts là-dessus si vous êtes au gouvernement ? Vous ne pourrez pas participer aux décisions sur le sport professionnel, la culture, la politique de prix unique du livre…

« J’espère que je vais pouvoir continuer à en parler, au contraire, ce sont des sujets sur lesquels je pense avoir une grande expertise », répond-il, insensible aux critiques. Certains ont même comparé Pierre Karl Péladeau à Berlusconi, l’ancien président et magnat de la presse en Italie. Il s’en fout : « Andrew Coyne a dit que j’étais devenu un oligarque russe et Lysiane Gagnon a dit que j’étais d’extrême droite. Allez-y, en termes de comparaison, tout est permis. »

Un café avec PKP