As the new minority Parti Québécois government prepares to settle in and winter approaches, a cold reality confronts Montreal and the rest of the province: Quebec is drifting economically.
People know it. Both anecdotal and widespread polling evidence tell us that what Montrealers and other Quebecers need and want right now is not another battle over sovereignty (not now, nor after Donald Trump leaves office, because who knows what will come next?) but a return to economic growth and job creation.
The disconnect between the political classes and the populace is glaring. Upon his victory last week, premier-designate Paul St-Pierre Plamondon stated “the Quebec we want to build for ourselves will be French-speaking” (as if it were not already), “modern” and “among the world’s greatest democracies.” Nice rhetoric.