Elections Québec Style

Contrary to rumors – while I may have been out of the country last week it’s not true that I left because of the Republican National Convention! I believe summer is for reflection and among the memories lately are my almost annual trips to Québec as a child that included visits to extended family with my parents and grandmother. This was the 1950’s where children were to be seen and not heard, resulting in my taking it all in and be amazed how just a few hours north of Claremont NH, life was so different regarding food, pastimes, and language. Growing up in 1950’s Claremont, it was common to hear French spoken, but where it was everywhere (radio, television and newspapers) was very different! Perhaps it’s the hot summer or just getting old, but thoughts of those days have been center stage – to the point where I recently told my wife I was off to Québec and the memories of my youth! Her response was “bon voyage & see yah!” I also shared this plan with my friend Jim Morin who told me about the upcoming provincial elections and how the separatists could possibly win. Furthermore, he’d be willing to go on this journey to visit the towns where so many Claremont families originated from and provide a firsthand view of elections Québec style. My mothers’ family (Beaudoin) like many of her extended family (LaPlante, Gregoire & Garneau) came here from the Eastern Townships – an area just north of the border where the principal city is Sherbrooke. The townships were created by the British after the American Revolution as a buffer zone between the French along the St. Lawrence and the new United States of America. The Townships were quickly settled by expanding French populations to where the names of the towns are the only remaining thing British. In the 19th Century, thousands of French-Canadians were enticed to New England which included hundreds of families from the Eastern Townships to Claremont. I recall a delightful story depicting this migration by my second grade teacher – Miss Laurina Issoire – who told how her father worked, as a lumberjack during the winter in northern NH & VT and would each spring be part of a drive where logs would be floated down the Connecticut River to Bellows Falls VT. Men would actually walk on the water and steer the logs down river. After reaching their destination, they were supposed to return to Canada, but her father, circa 1890’s, walked from Bellows Falls to Claremont, found permanent work and stayed. So being the largest community in the area, Sherbrooke made sense as our first stop and enroute I learned from Jim all about provincial politics and how Quebec uses a unicameral Westminster-style parliamentary government. The premier is the leader of the party that controls the most seats in the National Assembly and Liberals have been in power since 2003 with Jean Charest from Sherbrooke as Premier. Also, the premier chooses when to call an election, which happened on August 1st. Imagine if our elections only lasted 1 month. The premier called for elections on the first of August with September 4 designated as Election Day! Phone banks, visibility, signs, TV ads, and candidate events are all condensed into 1 month! Polls indicate the elections are close with only 6% separating first place Parti-Québeçois (PQ) with32% from the 3rd place Liberals (PLQ) at 26%. The new conservative party, the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), is in 2nd place with 28%. In Sherbrooke, we visited the Separatist and Liberal headquarters. According to the PQ, Mr. Charest a Sherbrooke native is so unpopular at home that even if his party wins on Tuesday, he may lose his seat. Therefore, should his party win but he loses, a liberal member of the National Assembly will resign in order to keep Charest premier. It’s like if the Republicans maintain a majority in the NH House, but Speaker O’Brien loses his race, a GOP representative would step down so O’Brien could remain the speaker. While visiting various headquarters differences became obvious, the PQ supporters we met were working class and in their 30’s, while the Liberal volunteers were middle age (40’s) and appeared more affluent. Separatists had their phone banks humming as you entered the headquarters, while the liberals had their get out the vote operations in the rear, away from public view. Obviously two different styles at play, with two different philosophies in motion. Our next concern was public opinion, so like all good Frenchmen we went to lunch where we met a chatty fellow who said it was too close to call, and re-affirmed the story we had heard about Sherbrook’s displeasure with their present legislator who’s also the present premier. We then went deeper into the province driving through rural towns with familiar names thanks to my mémère and noticed that political signs were only on utility poles and not private property! Later we learned that while people have strong personal opinions – they tend to keep them private. My thought was how can the Separatists be leading, weren’t they trounced in the last election and hadn’t they lost the referendum to secede from Canada? Hadn’t the wind been taken out of their sails, so how’d they bounce back? Apparently their success is attributed to their new leader Mme. Pauline Marois who has been unflatteringly described by one publication as an “old warhorse” of the Parti-Québeçois having worked with René Lévesque in the 1970’s. She was passed over in the past as the PQ wanted leaders that were snazzier and younger; however she’s resurfaced and is credited with bringing the PQ back to its working class roots. So who knows what will happen – but just a few hours north of here, it’ll be a hot time in old Québec on Sept 4th!