The bad conscience of François Legault

Paul St-Pierre Plamondon has undoubtedly found the best explanation for the many slippages experienced by François Legault on the issue of immigration during the campaign that is coming to an end: “In the absence of lasting solutions for French, we goes with superlatives. This is to the detriment of the social climate. »

It’s as if Mr. Legault was trying to demonstrate his will to act, while giving himself a clear conscience, by evoking the “Louisianization” and the suicide of the nation, without however having the courage to take the necessary means to prevent them. .

In his heart of hearts, he must know very well that even if Ottawa agreed to grant Quebec the increased powers it demands, being part of a fundamentally English-speaking country whose outward bilingualism can only deceive those who want to be sooner or later lead to anglicization.

Anyway, after hearing him rant about immigrants for a month — not to mention the nonsense uttered by Jean Boulet — even Pierre Poilievre can only wonder if giving him satisfaction is really a good idea.

Even for a sovereign Quebec, a French-speaking island in an Anglo-Saxon sea, countering the force of attraction of English would remain a formidable challenge, but its chances of doing so would be much better. Mr. Legault can hardly deny it. This is no doubt why he prefers to limit the debate to the benefits of equalization.

It is difficult to know to what extent he succeeded in convincing himself that he served Quebec better by turning his back on independence, but he would surely have liked to get rid of the PQ, whose mere presence can only remind him , as to others, that he sacrificed his ideal to his ambition. Unfortunately, he will have to continue to live with his bad conscience.

It is true that his alarmist discourse on immigration reflects the concern of many Quebecers who fear for their identity. Feeding it, however, cannot be a solution.

Nothing forced Mr. Legault to take this route. This served him well during the 2018 campaign. Adopting a more measured tone would not have caused him to lose votes where the CAQ is already established and would have increased his chances of expansion on the island of Montreal.

The PQ proposes immigration thresholds much lower than those of the CAQ, and Paul St-Pierre Plamondon did not feel the need to break sugar on the backs of immigrants. “I think we have to talk about it in the search for a sustainable model where everyone feels good and everyone fits in. A win-win relationship for everyone,” he explained. He grew out of it.

Rather than throwing oil on the fire, the head of the CAQ could very well have taken the height. Last spring, he gave a glimpse, without specifying the form, of a vast collective reflection on immigration which would take place in a more serene climate than that of an electoral campaign.

Of course, such an exercise would have to lead to some kind of result. In the current state of things, developing a “sustainable model” is far from obvious. Mr. Legault still does not rule out holding a referendum on the claim for new powers, but that assumes that he has an idea of ​​what he intends to do if the response from Ottawa remains negative.

He himself ruined his balance of power by challenging the PLQ for its title of champion in the fight against independence. Yet, to hear him rail against the immigrants, one would say that he holds them responsible for his impotence.

If Paul St-Pierre Plamondon succeeds in entering the National Assembly, he will also make a point of reminding him daily that Bill 96 is far from sufficient to prevent the decline of French.

It is becoming more and more difficult to discuss rationally with Mr. Legault, who is getting impatient and accusing all those who do not approve of his policies. According to him, CEGEP professors who are calling for the extension of the provisions of Bill 101 to the college level seek less to protect French than to welcome more students.

We can understand why he chose Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois as the main interlocutor. In the discourse of Québec solidaire, independence remains a kind of abstraction, and its co-spokesperson himself recognizes his lack of interest in quarrels with the federal government. And above all, by allowing the Prime Minister to present himself as a bulwark against wokism, he restores his conscience.

To see in video