PKP is now old news. The jumping jack of Quebec politics, jumping in and jumping out in a flash. May be a song there...
Now the biggest question facing the Parti Quebecois will be the infamous Article One. The holiest of the Holy Scripture, Article One of the PQ constitution, the raison d’etre: separation from the awful gulag which is the Canadian federation.
Will the next PQ savior campaign on sovereignty now, as did PKP, or will he or she decide that maybe it’s best to postpone the date with history even longer?
Perchance to dream.
My guess is that they will pick a fresh face like Alexandre Cloutier from Lac St. Jean, the PQ’s answer to Justin Trudeau: young and attractive and a great communicator.
Or Veronique Hivon, the McGill-educated lawyer who is best known for being the mother of Quebec's right-to-die legislation.
Whatever happens, it’s hard to see the PQ coming out of this united on much... and time is short.
Pequistes held their noses and supported lockout king PKP because they believed he held the keys to the kingdom or at least the golden ticket to the chocolate factory.
The drums will always be beating from the rank and file for referendum number three. Their demand will never really go away.
How the next leader will navigate those treacherous waters with that albatross will be the fundamental question.
Because the longer Article One remains the main goal of the PQ, the closer the party slips into irrelevance.
Bienvenue au Quebec
It is obvious that French in Quebec is the most regulated language anywhere in the world.
And it also seems that the war on English is never being fought on enough fronts.
The last PQ government tried to bring in massive changes to the language law. Mercifully, that never passed.
But the Liberals now are flexing their linguistic muscle with a silly plan to make stores add French descriptors to their outside signage. It is strictly a political move.
The silliest comment came from the language minister on how these little descriptors will make people know exactly where they are at all times
“They feel you know that they are in Quebec, they are not in Maine they are not in the state of New York,” said Helene David.
Madame David, you may not be in the state of New York but in a state of denial.
It’s always pretty easy to tell you are in Quebec: the potholes, lousy roads, unilingual signs and high gas prices should be a clue.
I don’t think most people, Francophones and non-Francophones, care one way or the other if Best Buy has a little added sign describing it as an electronics store.
It is not that important. But it won’t change anything.
No one will ever convince me that any sign legislation will do anything to protect the French language.
It’s just another example of language silliness based on non-existent threats from nervous nellies looking to flex some linguistic muscle and fix something that’s not broken. They are full of sound and fury signifying nothing.
Fort McMurray's devastation
Finally this week, I have never seen anything on the scale in this country of the Fort McMurray evacuation.
Our hearts go out to our Alberta neighbours.
The Canadian government will match your donation to the Red Cross.
It’s one of those moments when we can all come together to help
It’s what we do.
We are Canadians.
