Péladeau the best foe federalists could know
MONTREAL— Pierre Karl Péladeau, who abruptly resigned Monday as leader of the Parti Québécois for family reasons after less than a year on the job was as close to a winning condition for federalism as the sovereigntist movement could provide.
On that basis, his sudden departure is not good news for Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard. He had reasons to count on PKP — as the departing sovereigntist leader is commonly known — to pave his path to the reelection of his federalist government in 2018.
For in more ways than one, Péladeau was the best opposition foe the Liberal premier could possibly hope for.
His sovereigntist zeal was a major attraction for the party’s aging hardliners who ensured his leadership victory last May. But the fighting words that were music to the ears of the converted acted as a powerful deterrent on the majority of Quebec voters who cannot stomach the prospect of a third referendum anytime soon. The more they took his commitment to sovereignty seriously, the less they wanted to replace the ruling Liberals with the PQ.
At the same time, Péladeau’s unionbusting track record as a media owner made him an object of suspicion in the eyes of the party’s traditional allies within the Quebec left. His polarizing personality was particularly ill-suited for the task of bringing back together the various factions that have strayed from the sovereigntist party since the 1995 referendum.
At a time when many Quebec voters are looking for a progressive alternative to Couillard’s agenda, the PQ under PKP did not qualify as a serious option.
A CROP poll published last month illustrated the party’s predicament. It showed Couillard’s Liberals still in the lead province-wide and still competitive in francophone Quebec despite a consistently disastrous political winter.
Prudence would now dictate that the Liberals work harder at winning over some of the 60 per cent of Quebecers who are unhappy with their government. This unexpected reshuffling of the PQ deck could have beneficial results for one or the other of Quebec’s opposition parties.
For the sixth time since the 1995 referendum, the Parti Québécois is looking for a leader liable to rebuild a coalition sturdy enough to sustain another push for sovereignty. With every leader that task has become more formidable.
The party has not won a majority mandate since Lucien Bouchard led it to victory in 1998. It has spent all but 18 months of the past 13 years in opposition. Over that period it has become dominated — by default — by old-timers.
The PQ’s best hope to avoid a slow death on the opposition benches may lie in its success in effecting generational change and in reconnecting with younger voters. For that reason, one of the names often mentioned as a potential successor is that of Jean-Martin Aussant. The 45-year old economist is a former MNA who left the PQ five years ago to create a breakaway party called Option Nationale.
He quit politics after leading ON in one election. He is widely considered as Jacques Parizeau’s political heir. He eulogized the former premier at his funeral. He has the social-democrat credentials that PKP so sorely lacked. There is a market out there for a more consensual, more progressive PQ leader.
Alternatively, Péladeau’s resignation could breathe new life in the Coalition Avenir Québec. François Legault’s party took a hit from the arrival of PKP as leader, especially among older nationalist voters. A rocky PQ succession would benefit the CAQ.
Although many observers doubted that PKP — who had turned out to be anything but a natural politician—would go the distance to the next Quebec campaign, Monday’s announcement was a surprise. From his party’s perspective it has two significant merits.
Péladeau is leaving two full years before the election, leaving more than enough time for the PQ to regroup under a successor. And then, as opposed to some of his predecessors, he is not quitting on the heels of the kind of divisive leadership crisis that has long been in the DNA of his party.
In leaving, PKP may have just rendered his greatest service ever to the Parti Québécois.