Voting method: Legault accused of taking Quebecers “for fools” | Quebec 2022 elections

It’s just a genius thing to hear Francois Legault say, who do you think he is? Who does he take us for? Who does he take Quebecers for? For fools? Are they uneducated? Are people unaware of the importance of democracy?

These words were the words of Jean-Pierre Charbonneau, PQ minister for the reform of former democratic institutions and president of the New Democracy Movement, which has been advocating the creation of a new voting system in Quebec since 1999.

Mr. Francois Legault will easily reject the cross-party agreement signed in 2018 when he was in opposition. Charbonneau can’t believe it.

On top of all this, he was angry at himself for placing the blame squarely on the shoulders of Quebecers. He opposes himself and he humiliates himselfHe insisted that Mr. Legault was misleading the population.

President of the New Democracy Movement, Jean-Pierre Charbonneau

Photo: Radio-Canada / Olivier Lalande

” Funny, that’s not what he said in the last election, that’s not what he’s told us over the years. It was shocking and insulting to hear him use that argument. »

Sunday evening, on occasion presentation Five leaders, one electionFrancois Legault actually explained that if his government abandoned Bill 39 last year, it was because changing the voting system was not a priority.

Except for a few intellectuals, the population is not interested in a change in the voting system. Quebecers are not interestedHe dropped in on prime time.

However, this claim is contradicted by several sources, starting with the past works of his own political party.

In 2016, a press release issued by the CAQ was unequivocal: There are often large differences between the distribution of seats and the distribution of votes. It’s not always very democratic. Everyone came to the same conclusionAt that time the party was written.

” At the CAQ, we are of the general view that the popular will is clearly not respected and that a mixed proportional type of representation best serves the interests of all Quebecers. »

In 2019, according to the revealed Leger survey results fate, 69% of respondents wanted François Legault to keep his promise to reform the voting system.

More than 60% say it is unfair for a party that won 37% of the vote to lead a majority government after winning 59% of the seats in the National Assembly, as the CAQ did in 2018.

After Mr. Legault’s announcement on Sunday, Radio-Canada received emails from viewers saying they were disappointed to hear the CAQ leader’s disinterest in the reform.

” I’m not a genius, as he says, but that intrigues me. I believe this is precisely the reason [de ce] The kind of system where fewer and fewer people vote. »

ProfitsIdentifies Legault

On Monday, Francois Legault had to go back to the subject. He was the first to admit that proportional voting systems do provide benefits, as studies in political science have demonstrated.

Additionally Reduce the distortion between number of votes and number of seats Party-based, proportional electoral systems favor citizen electoral participation.

However, Mr. Legault’s hasty proportions also have their downsides. It will bring more minority governmentsHe suggested.

Then he returned to his first argument: With the pandemic we’ve been through for two and a half years, I deeply believe that the vast majority of Quebecers, when they list their priorities, the voting system is not among their priorities.

An hour later, at a militant rally in Gatineau, comments gathered from his supporters proved him partially right.

what is that

On the spot, a man said that he was not being prioritized. In the same breath, he admits that the subject is not his cup of tea. You need to explain more to me.He agreed.

When asked if she favored a proportional voting system, supporter Francois Legault told Radio-Canada: What is Proportional Voting System?

After a brief discussion suggesting that our current voting system allows us to collect less than 40% of the vote, to win a majority in the National Assembly, the 80-year-old woman quickly understood the challenge: That’s not right.

Should it change? For now, it can stay this wayShe replied that she was satisfied with the outgoing government.

Like Monopoly

Francois Legault was attacked by the Parti Québécois (PQ). If he doesn’t want to reform the voting system today, it’s because the system benefits him, unlike when he was in opposition, believes the PQ candidate in Matane- Matapedia, Pascal Bérubé.

The main thing is to stay in powerSaid sarcastically. It is a concern that all the seats in Quebec can be held as if they were a monopoly of all land.

Instead of inventing imaginary reasons and finding that this is intellectual business, he should just imagine and say: “I did Justin Trudeau. I made a commitment and I broke it.”Quebec solidaire Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois confirms co-rep.

I invite Quebecers to take notes. François Legault, during the election campaign, he promises things and once in power, he finally decides whether he is interested or not.Thunder Mr. Nadeau-Dubois.