The Walrus's September/October article about Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois says at his April rally in Rimouski he went after the CAQ and didn't mention the PQ or the Liberals. Has there been a change in strategy or is he trying out different messages?
There can be no greater confirmation that nobody cares about pandemic performance and body counts. Or at least absolutely positive confirmation that nobody cares about dead bodies in care homes.
Quebec's performance was the absolute worst in Canada, by a long margin. I mean, DOUBLE the deaths/million that Ontario had, nearly as high as America's death-rate.
All literally forgotten - Paul's column indicates that pandemic performance is a long-past non-issue.
Everything I imagined I knew about how the public evaluates politicians lies in ruins. I could have sworn that if foreigner's lives don't matter, at the very least, our own lives mattered. Apparently, a bold appearance of leadership and confidence, while the bodies are falling right and left, is enough.
Marc Roy clearly has the right of it: the care-homes are treated as a separate issue, and not really Legault's. There's some wisdom in that, since:
1) the care-home debacle is multi-province, extends to the USA and Europe; and is the result of very long-term neglect that crosses decades;
2) and it does that, because it reflects, I'm sorry to say, a deep societal value that we let it happen once people are into dementia. When they stop responding, even families fight for their comforts only weakly.
I'm afraid they died because "that's who we are", and we continue to be those people by letting the generation of politicians that got caught holding the bag, off. A weary bet: there will also be only modest improvements in care-homes.
In the same poll, there is a very negative rating of managing the pandemic specifically in CHSLD -- my sense just from people I talk to (who overwhelmingly are not CAQ supporters for whatever that’s worth), there’s a sort of mental division between the absolute nightmare in CHSLD at the beginning of the pandemic, and the rest of the pandemic response which is generally viewed as a positive (with the exception of the second round of curfews and questionable timing of measures around the holiday seasons). I think the poll results are consistent with this -- pandemic response is taken as somehow excluding what happened in the CHSLD, which is taken as a separate issue.
Indeed. How has everyone involved in the catastrophe that enveloped long term care homes throughout Canada escaped all consequences. It is a dreadful comment on our politicians and media. I mean, shouldn't it be the first question he gets asked every time?
Legauit's popularity comes from he does what he said he would do and does it openly. With the new survey about language in Canada, bill 96 will not be changed.
His stance on racism is also popular in Quebec. Unlike the rest of our leaders who play the race card and are burning us all.
Maybe! I'm paying my own way, or rather, my readers are. And my Thursday Rad -Can gig also gives me some prominence. But I'm glad I got in, and his campaign staff is being very helpful on logistics.
QS is a Marxist-Leninist party. One only has to go to their website to confirm. That they could become the official opposition is a testament to the weakness of both the PQ and the Liberals.
Great post though, looking forward to your observations on the CAQ bus.
Great column — very illuminating about what’s happening in Quebec. We’ll follow the election bus, through you!
Thank you for the valuable insight into Quebec Politics. I'm looking forward to the podcast.
The Walrus's September/October article about Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois says at his April rally in Rimouski he went after the CAQ and didn't mention the PQ or the Liberals. Has there been a change in strategy or is he trying out different messages?
I suspect it has a lot to do with where he is for specific events. Local incumbent in Rimouski is CAQ, if I'm not mistaken.
Rimouski is held by Herold Lebel who was elected under the PQ banner in 2018 but expelled from caucus and sits as an independent (https://globalnews.ca/news/7522978/pq-removes-harold-lebel/)
There can be no greater confirmation that nobody cares about pandemic performance and body counts. Or at least absolutely positive confirmation that nobody cares about dead bodies in care homes.
Quebec's performance was the absolute worst in Canada, by a long margin. I mean, DOUBLE the deaths/million that Ontario had, nearly as high as America's death-rate.
All literally forgotten - Paul's column indicates that pandemic performance is a long-past non-issue.
Everything I imagined I knew about how the public evaluates politicians lies in ruins. I could have sworn that if foreigner's lives don't matter, at the very least, our own lives mattered. Apparently, a bold appearance of leadership and confidence, while the bodies are falling right and left, is enough.
To your point: In this poll, of 24 policy issues (the last chart at the bottom of the story), the one where respondents give Legault the *best* evaluation is his handling of the pandemic. A lot of people are supporting him, not despite COVID, but because of it. I don't have a ready explanation for this. https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2022/08/27/sondage-les-intentions-de-vote-au-lancement-de-la-campagne
Marc Roy clearly has the right of it: the care-homes are treated as a separate issue, and not really Legault's. There's some wisdom in that, since:
1) the care-home debacle is multi-province, extends to the USA and Europe; and is the result of very long-term neglect that crosses decades;
2) and it does that, because it reflects, I'm sorry to say, a deep societal value that we let it happen once people are into dementia. When they stop responding, even families fight for their comforts only weakly.
I'm afraid they died because "that's who we are", and we continue to be those people by letting the generation of politicians that got caught holding the bag, off. A weary bet: there will also be only modest improvements in care-homes.
In the same poll, there is a very negative rating of managing the pandemic specifically in CHSLD -- my sense just from people I talk to (who overwhelmingly are not CAQ supporters for whatever that’s worth), there’s a sort of mental division between the absolute nightmare in CHSLD at the beginning of the pandemic, and the rest of the pandemic response which is generally viewed as a positive (with the exception of the second round of curfews and questionable timing of measures around the holiday seasons). I think the poll results are consistent with this -- pandemic response is taken as somehow excluding what happened in the CHSLD, which is taken as a separate issue.
Indeed. How has everyone involved in the catastrophe that enveloped long term care homes throughout Canada escaped all consequences. It is a dreadful comment on our politicians and media. I mean, shouldn't it be the first question he gets asked every time?
A podcast? Great news! Looking forward to subscribing to it and your coverage of the Quebec election.
Looking forward to the podcasts.
Legauit's popularity comes from he does what he said he would do and does it openly. With the new survey about language in Canada, bill 96 will not be changed.
His stance on racism is also popular in Quebec. Unlike the rest of our leaders who play the race card and are burning us all.
Good luck to him
Sans L’actualité, would Legault have let the author of my tied-for-favourite-Substack newsletter onto his campaign bus?
Maybe! I'm paying my own way, or rather, my readers are. And my Thursday Rad -Can gig also gives me some prominence. But I'm glad I got in, and his campaign staff is being very helpful on logistics.
Perhaps if you informed peek-a-boo Poilievre that you're part of L’actualité's formidable reporting and analysis team, he'd grant you an interview
QS is a Marxist-Leninist party. One only has to go to their website to confirm. That they could become the official opposition is a testament to the weakness of both the PQ and the Liberals.
Great post though, looking forward to your observations on the CAQ bus.