Second Thots

Sometimes one has to step back, take pause, and have some "second thots"

Monday, May 14, 2007

 

Duceppe proves he can't deliver for Quebec


Don Martin writes a piece in today's National Post the gist of which is that Gilles Duceppe has at least made himself vulnerable to short-term political jabs from his opponents.

However, as a L. Ian MacDonald suggests in the Post's sister paper, the Montreal Gazette, Duceppe's problems might be of a more permanent nature.

I happen to agree with the latter.

Think about it. I believe the Tories are making a lot of headway with their line that "the Tories deliver for Quebec while the Bloc can't and never will."

Well, what more ammunition do you need to make this point than a Bloc leader who did his best this past weekend to prove that he cannot actually lead Quebecers into anything?

In other words, Gilles Duceppe is nothing more than a manager of a protest party. I know this is the kind of theme I'd be hammering away at if I was Harper. Duceppe just handed him a gift. The prime minister will take it and probably make Duceppe eat it. Watch for it.


Comments:
I never thought anyone could make both Dion and Martin look absolutely decisive by comparison. However, Duceppe managed that extremely difficult feat.

 
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I agree. It has to be one of the most boneheaded political moves in recent memory.

 
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Everything the separatists have done for the past six years has been one boneheaded move after another. They've proved themselves to be rank amateurs time and time again. Personally I didn't think things could get better for Federalism in Quebec than the last election result... and now this.

The separatist movement has been dying since Parizeau's "ethnic" comment, then his book where he wrote about how he was prepared to make a Universal Declaration of Independence if his side had gotten a 50+1 vote. Independence as a political issue is now dead in Quebec for at least a generation, and probably for good.

The PQuistes are lucky they still have jobs. Duceppe and his BQuistes are playing out the string... the next election they're toast.

 
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I'm still not completely convinced that the movement is over. Perhaps more precisely, I don't think that federalists should take it for granted that the movement is over yet.

Dumont and the ADQ are still new at this. Harper's gains in Quebec might still be tenuous. The PQ did rebound somewhat from the Parizeau comments.

Yes, separatists falter. But so do federalists. When the latter happens, the former reverses itself.

Although I see hopeful signs that this cycle might end, I still don't think we're there yet.

 
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