Pay attention to the real campaign

Like many Quebecers, I’m preoccupied this week trying to get the kids into the routine of a brand-new school year and facing up to the fact that, despite the latest heat wave, summer is really over.

There’s so much going on at home that, for the average person, it could easily escape notice that there’s an election campaign in full swing — except for all those signs on lampposts and lawns, of course.

But then again, it’s hard to tell the difference between the official campaign and the perma-campaign these days, anyway.

With the Oct. 1 election — Quebec’s first vote held on a fixed date since being enshrined in law — party leaders have been jockeying for position for months, making promises, unveiling star candidates, revealing platform planks and glad-handing at public events. But has the public been paying much attention?

The actual campaign, with the telltale signage and the leaders’ buses criss-crossing Quebec, got underway last week while some Quebecers were still on vacation and many others were still in vacation mode. Liberal Leader Philippe Couillard exercised his discretion as premier to kick things off a little earlier than expected, pulling the trigger on a 39-day run-up to Quebecers casting their ballots. But even before that the parties were in pre-campaign mode, hitting the summer barbecue circuit. Between the policy conventions and the press conferences, there has barely been a moment they weren’t campaigning.

With fixed-date elections, the mystery is taken out of when it will be called, which levels the playing field; but some of the excitement is also missing. It’s like clicking on the television and joining a program mid-stream.

And with voting day on the municipal, provincial and federal scenes set for the fall every four years now, Quebecers may also be forgiven for feeling a sense of déjà vu. This time last year, the prelude to the municipal election was well underway. The official campaign period didn’t start until September and voting day was in early November, but Valérie Plante — then the underdog Projet Montréal candidate, now mayor — got a long, running start. Policy announcements were drawn out over a marathon summer, even if many voters only made up their minds in the final sprint.

This time next year, we will surely find ourselves in similar circumstances. A fixed-date federal vote is set for Oct. 21, 2019, but the lead-up will almost certainly begin before the leaves start falling from the trees. That will make it three years in a row contenders for public office took to the hustings when many Quebecers were on vacation. (Maybe one level of government could have opted for a spring vote, just to keep things interesting and make their appeals when the electorate tends to be more plugged in?)

Because as much as Quebecers may be tuned out at this particular moment, what is happening is important. This democratic exercise may be less of an existential crisis than elections past, with a bid for sovereignty off the table (in the short term, at least). But with the economy thriving and public finances in top shape, what is at stake are the breadand-butter programs and services that affect our daily lives.

Do we want free dental care for teens and seniors, as the Liberals are promising, or free education from the pouponière to a PhD as proposed by Québec solidaire? Do we want the Tinder-like carpooling app put forth by the Parti Québécois, or bigger baby bonuses for large families pitched by the Coalition Avenir Québec? The Liberals are dangling free daycare for four-year-olds, while the CAQ is promoting universal pre-kindergarten to free up child-care places for younger kids. It’s up to us to choose.

And it’s also up to us to decide what kind of society we want to be. Are we one that welcomes immigrants and relishes diversity? Or are we going to tell people what they can and cannot wear to be fully contributing members?

Democracy may be the worst system, as Sir Winston Churchill once said, save for all the others. In other words, for all the cynicism that sometimes surrounds the electoral process and the partisan bickering of our representatives, we should cherish and preserve our right to choose our own government. It must not be taken for granted — especially as it comes under attack from its enemies around the globe.

So no matter how distracted we are with our daily lives, we owe it to ourselves to sit up and pay attention. At least for the next few weeks.