What PKP wants, PKP gets

Re: “‘Make Quebec a country’: Péladeau” (Montreal Gazette, May 16)

There is no surprise in his winning the leadership. After all — to paraphrase the old song — “Whatever PKP wants, PKP gets.” In my opinion, he did not win this election by being a smart and educated politician, offering a good program and smart plans. It seems clear that he won thanks to the money he inherited from his separatist father, and by intimidating and out-yelling his opponents. And, as usual, the blindfolded membership of the PQ — like many times before — fell for the trick.

But there is good news and bad news.

The good news is that — so far, for almost four decades — the wise people of Quebec have not succumbed to the PQ’s political and emotional manipulations and its promises of a future paradise, the promised land of an independent Quebec.

They already voted many “giant PQ leaders” out of business in the past, the likes of Jacques Parizeau and Pauline Marois among others. Pierre Karl Péladeau, with his political inexperience and record of union-bashing, could very well become the next “giant leader” to further tarnish the reputation of the PQ, expediting its total defeat and disappearance. Having won the leadership, he might very well turn out to be a good-luck charm for his opponents.

The bad news is that “Whatever PKP wants, PKP gets.” He promises to put his Québecor shares in a “blind trust.” I believe he will make sure to use his power and that of his media empire to influence future elections and possible referendums.

It seems to me PKP wants to go down in history as the “Founding father of the Republic of Quebec,” get streets named after him, perhaps even become the subject of a giant sculpture in Quebec City. Peter Sipos, Côte St-Luc