Since the Legault government’s foreseeable abandonment of its promise of a Thirde Link between Québec and Lévis, Éric Caire, longtime number 1 cantor, eats a lot politically.
• Also read – 3rd link: Duhaime wants Eric Caire’s head and seat
• Also read – Éric Caire’s broken promise: voters support him, others want his resignation
Because he adamantly vowed to risk his seat if the project didn’t materialize, Éric Caire has trapped himself. His refusal to resign now makes him a prime target for opposition parties.
With Prime Minister François Legault’s persistent popularity making him untouchable, La Peltrie’s deputy and cybersecurity minister is bound to adopt the air of a sacrificial lamb for her.
Unable to shake the pillars of the CAQ Temple, they target Éric Caire, by far the weakest link in government.
With their call for resignation, the opposition parties are thus reminding voters of the – albeit justified – broken promise of the CAQ. In short, the CAQ’s former “sheriff” didn’t leave the inn.
Éric Duhaime sees this as a more worthwhile bone to chew on than his retrograde crusade against drag queen stories. Outside Éric Caire’s office, the Conservative leader announced the launch of a petition aimed at sacking the hated MP, coupled with a fierce campaign on the ground.
Mr. Duhaime is pushing the irony of taking inspiration from a bill introduced by the “Sheriff” himself in 2011, when he drew faster than his shadow in the Blue Room.
Classic populist idea
His stillborn bill provided that an MP could be impeached by his constituents under certain conditions. A classic populist idea, but one that risks exposing elected officials to blackmail by any interest group, no matter how organized.
For this reason, PQ Chair Paul St-Pierre Plamondon’s suggestion that a similar bill be tabled “in the event of a serious breach of trust and breach of a solemn obligation to voters” is inadvisable.
If he has any idea how important his given word is to an elected official, it is more likely that Éric Caire is responsible for the resignation.
Especially since, as long as he holds on to his seat, he will serve as a scapegoat for the opposition while at the same time reminding of the government’s broken promise.
In other words, if Mr. Legault is tempted to save Private Cairo for his past service with the ADQ, he risks it becoming a permanent liability.
Even Duhaime doesn’t want it
If even Éric Duhaime in the middle of a raid operation on the Caquistes ploughmen doesn’t want Éric Caire, fair is said for La Peltrie’s deputy.
At the start of a strong second term, François Legault certainly senses that his voters will forgive him for his requiem of the third term. However, the damage in his caucus promises to be harder to deal with.
Hence his decision to meet with his insecure elected officials from the Greater Capitale-Nationale region on Tuesday. Not that a rebellion is expected. François Legault’s superiority over his troops remains intact.
He still has to listen to them and explain to them why the heck the decision of such a big shift was made without them.
You will also want to know why Deputy Prime Minister Geneviève Guilbault, whose ambitions to one day succeed Mr Legault is evident, was the sole bearer.
Despite the CAQ’s popularity with its constituency, the cohesion of its caucus is at stake—a precious commodity.
