The Bloc Quebecois’ Yves-Francois Blanchet is just the latest in a long line of hysterical Quebec nationalist politicians the rest of us have had to endure seemingly forever. Somewhere in that province there obviously lies a comedy factory that pumps out these self-indignant, perpetually pouty politicians who calculate the ways and means of Quebec separation from the rest of Canada.
It’s almost funny, except for the fact that it’s not. It is, though, exceedingly tiring.
To have people like this in our federal parliament is an indication that either Canada is the most tolerant and placating place on the planet or that we have some institutional dysfunction within our federal system. I’m not here to complain about that system, because democracy can be inconvenient like that.
I’m here to complain about Blanchet. Because people can be a pain in the ass like that.
So, hooray for Yves-Francois.
He’s announced that he’s entering into “negotiations” — please, is this some really bad comedy here? — with the Conservatives to topple Justin Trudeau’s federal Liberal minority government. I’m sure we’re all holding our collective breath.
Blanchet has pounced on his political chance, so he’s no idiot. His party is the only one that wouldn’t be decimated in Quebec if an election were held today. Not even the Conservatives will do well there, mostly because of the disdain that Quebecers hold for the adolescent Pierre Poilievre and the fact that they’re still pissed at the Conservatives over Louis Riel. Quebec dogs still bark well into the night over that one. The Tories, back when they were known as Progressive Conservatives, won all but a couple of seats in Quebec under Brian Mulroney, but those Tories included a large rump of Quebec nationalists. Those Quebec nationalists are now the Bloc Quebecois.
When Jagmeet Singh’s New Democrats cut the cord on their supply and management pact wth the Liberals, Blanchet was gifted with a freebie. He could jump into the void and prop up the Liberals in exchange for seniors’ pension enhancements and guarantees that sector management — see Quebec dairy industry — would be protected in any future free-trade negotiations with the Americans. He gave the Liberals until yesterday to fall into line on these demands, but the Liberals told poor Yves-Francois to go pound some sand.
That’s because the Liberals, just like Blanchet himself, know that the future of this government still lay at the feet of — gasp— Jagmeet Sigh and the NDP. As in there’s no way in hell Singh and the New Democrats are going to an allow an election that will reduce the NDP to a rump of its current self. Plus, the party has no money to fight an election. So if you were chomping at the bit for an election soon, you’d be best advised to buy more bits, ‘cause there’s still some chomping to be done.
This is all political theatre, where Blanchet gets to look like the guy demanding concessions for Quebec from the federal government, then gets to be the guy who leads the indignation he hopes Quebecers feel at being so rudely dismissed by the Liberals. It’s a win-win for the opportunistic little fellow from Quebec.
The NDP broke their supply and management deal with the Liberals because they didn’t want to get pulled down with the ship when the Liberals went down, and went down hard and fast. Also, they were fearful the Liberals would claim all the progressive policies, like dental and pharma care, as their own, even though those things were conditions of the alliance in the first place. The Liberals have a history of doing that sort of thing to the NDP, so the New Democrats were always going to be suspicious of the Liberals, no doubt well-founded.
So the New Democrats jumped overboard as the Titanic started to take on heavy water. They thrashed about in that water for a bit, dark, lonely, frightened, and confused. And then a hand of help reached out of that darkness, and Singh clasped it in the unbelievable hope that he was about to be saved from this political calamity. Then he looked up and saw that the hand belonged to Slogan Boy, Pierre Poilievre. And that’s when Singh said “Oh, hey, thanks, but we’ll just get an Uber.”
There will be no election until the NDP decides there will be one, and that ain’t something that’s going to happen soon. Singh needs time and money, two commodities he’s running out of with no prospects for improvement. So in the interim, he’ll bash the Liberals so as to create distance from them, bash the Conservatives because, well, that’s just what we do, and he’ll bash the Bloc Québécois just for the sheer entertainment of their reaction. He’ll not bash the Greens, because they’re a protected species, and it would be like bashing a little kid.
So, back to Yves Francois Blanchet, The Little Fellow Who Could, just like his favourite bedtime story. He’s playing the game of politics, and the situation presented to him by the dissolution of the Liberal-NDP pact was too good to ignore. Not just low-hanging fruit, but fruit already laying on the ground. How could he not?
So, friends, if a looming federal election had you salivating at the chance to lay a hurt on Goldy Socks, it looks to me like you’ll be salivating for some time to come.
Sorry.
NEWSMAGRENFREW 