The Quebec election is officially in the books, with Paul St-Pierre Plamondon’s Parti Québécois winning a minority government.
In this special election recap episode of The Corner Booth, former NDP leader Tom Mulcair joined hosts Bill Brownstein and Aaron Rand at the Snowdon Deli to share his thoughts on the rise of the Quebec Conservatives, the wipeout of the CAQ and what he thinks PSPP’s first 100 days in office might look like.
Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette
“Picking fights with Ottawa. He’s going to start laying the groundwork for the fight on Bill 96 and Bill 21, in anticipation of the Supreme Court decisions,” Mulcair said when asked about the premier-designate’s priorities for his first 100 days.
“How do you convince rational people that in a place that is one of the richest countries on Earth, great civil liberties, freedoms that countries would be jealous of, natural resources that are a blessing, everything that we’ve got going for us in Canada?
“How do you convince people that it’s the Gulag archipelago and you’ve got to leave? You’ve got to use taxpayers’ money. You’ve got to buy ads. You’ve got to set up failures here and there, and that’s what he’s going to be all about, setting up failures. And it’s a waste of energy. It’s a waste of time.”
You can’t take your eye off the ball.
Tom Mulcair
Former NDP leader
Mulcair said that St-Pierre Plamondon’s other big challenge in terms of navigating a minority government is finding ways to work with the other parties. The new premier said he was open to it in his victory speech, but Mulcair said historically, most minority governments fail to build that consensus.
“The only way (a minority government) could last longer than 18 to 24 months is to have the skills of a Mark Carney, who was able to get floor-crossers, cobble together and win byelections,” Mulcair said. “There’s nothing in the offing for the PQ in that regard. The other way to do it is the way Trudeau did it with (the NDP’s) Jagmeet Singh. You bring the other guy into your tent.”
Could the PQ find common ground with the other sovereignist party in the National Assembly, Québec solidaire? Their nine MNAs could help push the PQ into majority territory if they see eye to eye, but Mulcair doesn’t expect it to happen.
” If (QS co-leader Ruba Ghazal) is not careful and she becomes the backup for the Parti Québécois, she loses her identity with her own political base,” Mulcair said.
” They don’t talk to each other ideologically, but they have one common purpose. So you can’t take your eye off the ball.”
Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette
And finally, Mulcair spared a thought for the CAQ, who governed the province for eight years, mostly under founder François Legault, but now find themselves on the outside looking in with zero members elected.
Can they rise from the dead, not unlike the PQ did after being reduced to three MNAs in the 2022 election?
“There’s not going to be a revival of the CAQ because there’s no history there,” Mulcair said.
“There’s no culture of that party. Nobody is a lifetime member or their parents were members or voters for the CAQ. It was one man’s party, and he quit, and now it’s going to disappear.”
The Corner Booth is also available on The Gazette’s YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts and on Spotify.