I used to think the Montreal Gazette was the best paper in town. No more. I get much better bang for my buck with the French daily La Presse. Not only does it provide better in-depth analysis of news, it also shows a capacity for accomodating ALL points of views.
The big news everywhere in Montreal and Quebec, is Jean Charest's new cabinet. It's lean, with only 18 members, compared to 25 until now. The reason is simple: the Libs have lost their majority, so they can't have a big cabinet if it doesn't even control the National Assembly.
Some people had to go. And Charest decided that this cabinet would be 50/50 men and women. I'm told it's a first in North America. DOn't know if it's true. But his bold move was praised by just about everyone today. Editorials all say how clever Charest was, by bringing equilibrium in Cabinet. And praised him for bringing into Cabinet the first black woman, Pierrefond's Yolande James.
Losts of firsts. But the Gazette's take? The subject of its editorial and columnists?
Here it is, for the tribe:
An insult to anglos and to Montreal
If this is the way Charest treats his friends, Mario Dumont is looking better all the time.
Editorial - The Gazette (Montreal)jeudi 19 avril 2007
It would have been too much to expect, we suppose, that Yolande James could have refused the opportunity given to her yesterday.
By accepting cabinet office, however, the 29-year-old James has allowed herself to become the instrument by which Jean Charest delivers a contemptuous slap to the anglophones and allophones who kept him in office in last month’s election.
The Liberals came a poor third among francophone voters in the March 26 election, and somehow Charest translated this into a need to reduce the number and stature of anglophones - who did vote for him - in cabinet.
That’s just one of the weirdnesses of the Quebec cabinet sworn in yesterday, which looks oddly old, with the same people back in the senior jobs. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, because some of them have proved to be decent ministers.
But at 18 ministers plus the premier, this cabinet is mysteriously tiny, which has meant some good people have been thrown overboard and others have been passed over.
The new team is heavily skewed to the regions, where the Liberals did so poorly last month. The new cabinet of 19 has just six members from Montreal, three of them rookies and only two - the estimable Monique Jerome-Forget at finance/Treasury Board and Jacques Dupuis at justice/public security - in major portfolios.
This is more than a matter of prestige and bragging rights. Around the cabinet table, major decisions are made, and Montreal’s voice will now be drowned out, more than ever, by the clamour from the regions.
But if all of Montreal is under-represented in the new cabinet, the anglophone community fares even worse. Dumped unceremoniously was Geoff Kelley, the respected Indian Affairs minister whose good relations with northern native communities might have proved quite useful in any new hydro-dam negotiations.
Kelley’s successive massive majorities in his West Island riding symbolized the support of the anglophone community for the Liberals. Charest obviously calculates that he’s in no danger of a voter revolt in anglo areas.
Also ditched, on the pretext that Lawrence Bergman has health problems, was the Liberal tradition of finding a spot at the table for someone from the Jewish community ; N.D.G.’s Russell Copeman would have been eminently suitable for cabinet.
So where Charest’s first cabinet included anglophone Assembly veterans Kelley, Bergman and Tom Mulcair, James now becomes the sole anglo in the new cabinet.
First elected MNA for the West Island riding of Nelligan in a 2004 by-election, James is by all accounts intelligent, capable and qualified. But consider her assignment : the first visible-minority female minister in Quebec history will be minister for immigration and cultural communities. It’s a little too simplistic.
No doubt the whole touchy dossier of reasonable accommodation will be handled directly from the premier’s office. In fact, anyone who expects that the only anglophone minister will have much real importance should examine the official press release announcing the new cabinet : Yolande James’s first name is misspelled.
The insult to the Liberals’ electoral backbone among Montreal anglophones and allophones is not the only odd thing about this cabinet. What was the point of making it so small ? It might be that a streamlined cabinet is needed to operate speedily, because the government is in a minority now.
But Charest didn’t say that. Maybe he could find no more capable MNAs from the regions. Maybe he wanted to boast of having half women and couldn’t find more than nine he considered ministrable. Did he even try to bring Pierre Paradis back ? Why has he loaded so many duties onto a few super-ministers ? Are there really so few people he can trust fully ?
Nor does it make sense that Nathalie Normandeau, so utterly ineffectual in dealing with Montreal’s problems as urban-affairs minister, should be retained in that post. She is also going to be minister for the regions, and for that reason Charest made her deputy premier. But if she’s going to be concentrating on rebuilding the Liberals from their disastrous third-place finish in the regions, why has she been left in charge of Montreal, as well ? Why is there no minister for the metropolis ? Why is a Liberal premier creating a unilingual deputy premier ? Because he takes Montreal for granted ?
One of the few unqualified good things about yesterday’s announcement is that Charest kept his promise to name a minister for seniors, Montreal MNA Marguerite Blais. This is a worthwhile initiative in an era when demographic change, in the shape of an aging population, is increasingly affecting so much of life.
But on balance, this cabinet doesn’t add up. The reduced margins and low turnout in safe Liberal seats seem to have sent Charest no message from the groups and region that have been his strongest supporters.
If this is the way Charest treats his friends, Mario Dumont is looking better all the time.
I'm sorry, but this is the lamest editorial the paper's printed in a long time! This is soooo Gazette! Us vs THEM. Then they wonder why anglos feel like outisders. Because we behave like outsiders!
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4 comments:
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Speaking of a certain quality of reportage... maybe you can tell us if this is standard operating procedure at the CBC ?
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This is shrewd politics on Charest's part. In order to regain what he has lost, he will need to reach out to the more rural regions of Quebec.
Most of the inhabitants of Montreal will continually vote for Charest's party simply because... 1) They could never vote for Seperatists, and 2) Mario Dumont and the ADQ are probably too conservative for them.
So, yes, Montreal is safe for Charest... just as the GTA is safe for the federal Liberals, barring a complete meltdown of their party and/or Stephen Harper becoming immensely popular.
I do agree with the editorial, though, that Charest may have went with a small cabinet in order to say that he had 50% women in that cabinet. That colours him as the progressive of progressives, and is clearly an attempt to bleed left-leaning support away from the PQ.
As a Quebecois, AR, I'm curious as to your take on Mario Dumont and the ADQ.
Do you see them as federalists, seperatists, or something inbetween? Is Mario Dumont a trustworthy ally to Stephen Harper, or could he prove to be to Harper what Lucien Bouchard was to Brian Mulrooney?
You unqeustionably know Quebec politics better than I do, but I was fascinated by the rise of the ADQ in Quebec from the vantage point of an outsider, and there's much about Dumont that I like (but then, I may not be as aware of his faults as you are).
Thanks for the feedback, I never thought Charest limited his cabinet to guarantee a 50/50 balance. But there's already some grumblings, from people who think he overdid it. Example: Jacques Dupuis, public security minister, is also our minister of justice and Attorney General. Big source of conflict of interests.
As for the ADQ, most people dismissed Dumont as an also-ran at the beggining of the campain, and he surprised everyone, including the media.
Separatists are still reeling over the fact they lost so many votes to Dumont. But in their arrogance, they see these voters as lost sheeps who'll eventually come back to the fold once they realize that Dumont's "autonomist" platform is full of air. Others think he's really a closet separatist.
I'm not one of them. I had the chance to interview him a few times over the years. He's appealing to the ambivalence of Quebecers, who want their own country, but don't want to miss out on the positive side of Canada. Hence, his success.
He managed to appeal to Quebecers who are sick and tired of seeing every election as simply another battle of separatists vs federalists. Charest got the message. Boisclair and the PQ didn't.
I think he's a right-wing populist in much the same fashion as Stephen Harper. It's based on the platform, but it's a know fact that politicians tend to move to the center the closer they get to power. Which is exactly what Dumont is betting on. He's probably a better ally to Harper than Charest in fact.
I don't believe for one second that the man would ever go back to the separatist side. He represents what Quebecers dream of: a strong Quebec within a united Canada. Not out of love, but out of convenience.
The new National Assembly is about to resume a new session, and it will be interesting to see where he will take it. Because despite his consevative platform, he already announced he would vote AGAINST the Liberal budget which promises tax cuts.
Go figure!
AR - Thanks for the info. I agree with you on Jacques Dupuis - bad move on Charest's part there, giving him that combo of portfolios.
Your take on Dumont is encouraging to me. If it's right, it could mean the end (at least for a long tme) of the possibility of Quebec leaving Canada.
Well, talk to you later. Have a good weekend!
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