It would be wise for Dominique Anglade to ask serious questions. It is even questionable how far the misfortune of the leaders of the Quebec Liberal Party and their education will go.
Only 10% of Francophones support his party. Even among non-French speakers – and yet on a historical basis – their support has fallen below 50%. According to a Léger/Le Journal poll on June 22, Éric Duhaime’s Conservative Party (PCQ) seized the opportunity to climb to 22% among non-Francophones.
At the same time, two new small English-speaking parties – the Bloc Montreal and the Canadian Party of Quebec – received their sanctions from Elections Quebec. In short, the PLQ bleeds everywhere.
Under the Federalists, even the PQ’s hell ride has robbed it of its classic role as an anti-sovereignist refugee party. No more throwing. The Court of the Liberals is archived.
The fact remains that the ultimate ball and chain that Dominique Anglade drags around within the English-speaking electorate is his inability to openly wage war against the nationalist government of François Legault.
Specifically against his Law 21 on secularism, his Law 96, which aimed to strengthen Law 101, and his dual reliance on the devaluation clause – all hated by the Anglo-Quebec community.
Tailor made
Especially within the Anglo-Quebec community, Éric Duhaime strikes the right political note. His speech is tailored to grab his attention.
He demonstrated this at length in an interview with CJAD last week. What would he do to better protect the English-speaking community, the host asks? Response from Éric Duhaime: “I would start by abolishing Law 96.”
The rationale he gives is a perfect echo of the prevailing opinion among Anglo-Quebecians: “I don’t think Bill 96 even protects French. Its only purpose is to disrupt the English speaking community and collect the votes of the remnants of the PQ. It’s a political tactic, period.
While French was recognized as a common language, the Conservative leader also praised Montreal’s bilingual nature. “The English-speaking community has changed a lot, he added, with many sending their children to French, bilingual or immersive schools.”
Looks like the PLQ creed
Most notably, he vowed never to use the exemption: “Anglophones will always have the right to go to court to challenge a law that deprives them of their fundamental rights.”
Even though Éric Duhaime will not be prime minister, the fact that he is expressing Anglophones’ feelings about their future and Bill 96 means his speech may mislead some of them. He knows it very well.
In response to an article published on our site about the PCQ’s rise in the English-speaking electorate, Éric Duhaime, political chameleon par excellence, rushed to Twitter to describe his party as the heir to liberal values.
The PCQ, he writes, “brings together more and more Quebecers of all origins, francophones, anglophones or allophones. I am very proud to see that we are all united around our strong values of democracy, civil rights and individual freedoms.”
It looks like the historic creed of the PLQ…
