At the end of the day it’s about integrity, it’s about not falling prey to opportunism.

When Leo Bureau-Blouin removed his red square to join the Parti Quebecois he abandoned his principles.

For months he wore his red badge with defiance, but for political expediency on the eve of an election call his PQ handlers deemed it undesirable.

Never mind the fact that Pauline Marois wore her patch for months in solidarity with students in their spring of unrest.

Better dead than red I guess.

 

I think Mr. Bureau-Blouin has a fine mind and obvious political skills.

He is personable and the most moderate of the trio of student leaders.

His future is bright, but I am not sure this is his time.

I’m not sure voters are willing to elect someone who put his name to an agreement and then recommended it be rejected.

I’m not sure voters are willing to elect someone who marched every night and warned of increased violence if rule of law was enforced.

 

This sudden jump into the arms of Madame Marois confirms what we knew all along.

The PQ, along with Quebec Solididare and the big unions, were the driving forces behind the tuition fee increase protest.

The PQ just may be too clever by half here.

They have given the Liberals another gift: from a pot-clanging leader to a student protest leader carrying their banner.

If the Liberals can define what this election will be about, they will do it on two fronts. One: protest on the street versus the legitimacy of the National Assembly and the democratic process.

Two: the ever-present 800-pound gorilla in the room, the PQ’s dream of another referendum in their quest for paradise gained, an independent Quebec on the banks of the St. Lawrence.

 

This election will be important in many ways.

It will be about the Quebec of tomorrow and the kind of society you and your children and grandchildren will live in.

Politics is about having the courage of your convictions.

I am afraid Mr. Bureau Blouin has failed on this count.

I would have more respect for him if he had kept his red square, but that would not have suited his new masters.

In fact, if Madame Marois thinks people will forget her role in the protest, she is mistaken.

She might as well pin her badge back on, because for the next month, Jean Charest will remind Quebecers at each and every opportunity he gets.

 

This election will take no prisoners.