For which Francois Legault, will CAQ voters vote on October 3?
There are so many! To be convinced of this, read the enlightening text by historian Eric Bédard in the latest issue of L’Inconvenient (ed. 2022).
In the early 2000s, Bédard wrote speeches for Legault, who was Minister of Education for the PQ governments for 3 years, between 1998 and 2002.
In his portrait entitled “Francois Legault, Manager,” Bédard tries to discern some basic features of the man’s thinking from direct access to him.
Business man
Legault is a rare breed in Quebec politics: businessman, entrepreneur. In history we have above all lawyers, professors, former trade unionists.
In the 1980s, “establishment” liberal stars – who dreamed of replacing the welfare state with a provigo state – were ministers, operating “like the private sector”. But Legault is interested in the achievements of the quiet revolution.
His concept of politics is “management”. But he does not want, like the neoliberal right, a lesser state, but a better managed, more “efficient” state, his watchword.
“He dreamed of improving or changing the mechanics, not changing the engine”, Bedard explains. How to achieve it? “Responsibility”, “rewarding effort and imagination”. Hence the “performance contracts” he was trying to impose.
Note: Discussions on political governance, “identity at stake”, very little for him, recalls Bedard: “I believe that Francois Legault at that time did not raise the condition of the Louisianization of Quebec. »
In 2010, Legault left the PQ for a year. He is thinking of starting a new party. Contact former teammates including Eric Bedard.
His new political structure would be nationalist, but not sovereign. Bedard, ironically, replied: But then why not become the leader of the PLQ? He expects Legault to “giggle with laughter.” Oh no! “Seriously”, he admitted he had “thought about it”! Before adding: “But the liberal brand is no longer good. »
identify
Bedard has trouble understanding Legault’s “recognition” turn. He asks himself: honest exchange or opportunism?
The historian and the politician parted ways. But to understand today’s Legault, I think you have to go back to 2015: the departure in April of the ultra-federalist Gérard Deltel; CAQ’s bitter failure in partial Chauvet in June; Logo change (from multicolored to blue) in November. The transition in 2018 will prove to be very “beneficial”.
Moreover, Quebec’s defense of the state, the desire to increase its powers, if we are to believe a recent Léger survey commissioned by the IRAI Institute, is still very optimistic: a “clear majority” of Quebecers wants Quebec to have all the powers. cultural norms (77%) and language (73%), among other things.
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