ADQ, RIP

Gilles Taillon resigns as leader, party fades into history books

If there was any doubt that the Action Democratique du Quebec is all but officially dead it was almost certainly wiped away when Gilles Taillon resigned as leader less than a month into his tenure.

Taillon's resignation quickly follows the departure of Eric Caire and Marc Picard from the party.

But there may be even more afoot. Taillon has suggested the ADQ may have links to a controversial Quebec construction magnate, and is apparently planning to call the police in to investigate.

"I intend to push my observations further and will probably demand a meeting with the authorities at the Surete du Quebec," Taillon announced.

That wasn't all.

Taillon -- who won the party leadership by a single vote (once a fraudulent vote is removed from his tally -- blamed the federal Conservative party for engineering a rebellion against him within the party.

He had met with Tory Senator Leo Housakos (who himself has been embroiled in the recent controversy) and told him the ADQ was going to sever ties with the federal Conservatives.

"I clearly told Senator Housakos that I had nothing against Conservatives or Housakos himself," Taillon said. "But I also told him that if I ultimately became leader, the ADQ would work only for Quebec and without any attachment to any of the federal parties."

He also insinuated that Mario Dumont was involved in the plot against him.

"I understand today, with the public comments of the former 'owners' of the party, with Mario Dumont at the helm, that my election to the ADQ leadership for these people signalled an end to this 'untouchable alliance,'" Taillon continued. "From that point, Gilles Taillon could no longer be leader of the ADQ, despite being the democratic choice of party members."

But for his own part, Dumont outright dismissed the idea of a Conservative plot against Taillon.

"It's understandable - this man is dealing with a personal failure, and it's difficult," Dumont said of his former Deputy Leader. "It's understandable from a professional standpoint: he built a brilliant career, and he's dealing with a difficult failure this week. I don't think that's any reason to be casting about for such a meticulously orchestrated plot."

The ADQ once had a proud history as the conservative federalist alternative in Quebec.

Now, just as the leadership campaign Taillon won in order to become party leader was one of the most meaningless and acrimonious in history, the party's dissolution may be one of the most meaningless and acrimonious in history.


Other bloggers writing about this topic:

ThreeHundredEight - "The ADQ Self-Destructs"

Dan Shields - "If the ADQ Was a Dog We'd Shoot It"

William Norman - "ADQ Disintegration Watch"

The ADQ Needs Super Mario to Return

ADQ leadership campaign self-destructive

Canadians, being hockey fans, almost certainly remember the story of the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1990s.

They kicked off the decade by winning two straight Stanley Cups. The Penguins' fortunes steadily declined until 1997, when Lemieux retired to battle lymphoma. The Penguins struggled after Lemieux's departure, winning only a single playoff series.

Lemieux returned to the Penguins in 2000, and the Penguins continued to struggle. These years of struggle set the stage, however, for a spectacular rebuilding program that eventually resulted in the team winning another Stanley Cup under Lemieux's annointed and groomed successor, Sidney Crosby.

Super Mario Lemieux recognized when his team needed him, and returned to the fray.

Super Mario Dumont may need to do the same.

Dumont resigned his position as leader of the party he founded in 2008, after being reduced from Leader of the Opposition to only seven seats in the National Assembly.

Since then, the ADQ has been in search of a new leader. The results haven't been inspiring.

So far, the main issues discussed in the ADQ leadership campaign have been the disqualification of a candidate, and the allegedly-inflated resume of another one of the candidates.

Where most party's leadership campaigns are characterized by the rush to sign up new members to support a particular candidate's leadership ambitions, the ADQ leadership campaign has been characterized by an exodus out of the party.

"I would say that the meter counting members leaving the party is turning faster than the one counting new members," said Caire, one of the leadership candidates.

Caire has been accused of using a fraudulent resume in which he is listed as holding a Bachelor of Communications degree from Laval University. For his own part, Caire insists that the degree is still "a work in progress", and that his resume was merely subject to a typo.

Caire himself accused Christian Levesque of being unable to chew gum while walking.

ADQ founding member Marie Gregoire has been markedly disappointed in the tone of the campaign.

"You would hope that the debate would be on ideas," she complained.

"The ADQ has always been a party of ideas," Gregoire continued. "They have been putting things on the table that nobody had the courage to talk about."

Enougn is enough. Taillon, Caire and Levesque have embarassed their party enough. Mario Dumont must by now recognize that he's the only one left who can lead to the ADQ.

Even if the party continues to struggle, at least it can continue to rebuild under his leadership. Perhaps one day it will return to the benches of the Official Opposition, or perhaps even the government of Quebec.

All Super Mario needs to do is return.

ADQ Searching for New Leader, Pronto

ADQ speeds up quest for new leader

As the May calendar flips into June, the Action Democratique du Quebec has decided to accelerate its leadership contest.

The party will vote for its new leader on October 18, 2009. The vote had previously been scheduled for February 2010.

This happens as a fourth candidate, Chauveau MNA Gerald Deltell, seems prepared to take to the field. Deltell has been the subject of a "draft Gerald" movement which could make him an instant contender for the leadership of the hobbled party.

“Many people have asked me to be a leadership candidate,” Deltell recently admitted. “I don’t like politics. “I love it.”

Deltell would join Gilles Taillon, Christian Levesque and Eric Caire in the race to become the next ADQ leader, and only the second leader the 15-year-old party will ever know.

Deltell was previously a journalist, and had covered Quebec's National Assembly for TQS.

Janvier Grondin, the man behind Mario Dumont's accelerated departure from the ADQ leadership, has welcomed the prospect of Deltell joining the leadership race with enthusiasm. “I really like his style,” Grondin noted.

Ironically, Deltell's current riding was formerly the home of Gilles Taillon, who in December 2008 ran and lost in the riding of Chapleau, which may give Deltell a serious head-up over Taillon -- Mario Dumont's former deputy leader -- in the contest.

This, of course, is all assuming that Deltell decides to run.

ADQ Leadership Race Heats Up

Gilles Tailon announces leadership bid

Just a few short months ago, the Action Democratique du Quebec were in extremely dire straights.

They had just finished absorbing a whopping defeat in the 2008 Quebec election, their leader, Mario Dumont, had just quit, and no contenders were lining up to bid for his vacated post.

What a difference a few months can make.

As of yesterday, three candidates have declared their candidacy to become the next leader of the ADQ.

Gilles Tailon has formally declared his candidacy. He says he plans to focus on economic issues.

Eric Caire, the National Assembly Member for La Peltrie and another former MNA, Christian Levesque.

At 63 years of age, Tailon is the oldest candidate to join the field. He'd certainly be a significant change from the young, dynamic Dumont. His best asset is a stint as the President of the Conseil du Patronat du Québec, an association of business people. He was the president of the CPQ for eight years between 1998 and 2006.

Caire was first elected in his riding of La Peltrie in 2007 by 51% of the vote. Since then he's advocated the abolition of public school boards and the introduction of a school vouchers program.

Levesque has some international credentials, having previously been President of General Textiles International, which is based in Paris. In a party that has to lead toward French Canadian nationalism, such links to France could be a real asset for both Levesque and the ADQ.

Any of these candidates would be hard-pressed to replace Mario Dumont, but with the sharp turn in the party's electoral fortunes the ADQ is well-poised for the kind of change in direction a new leader could bring.

Will Mario Dumont Be Back?

Dumont's ride into the sunset may not be permanent

As the Action Democratique du Quebec looks anxiously toward its future -- a future without the only leader it has ever known -- some continue to speculate on former leader Mario Dumont's future.

Last year Lawrence Martin suspected Dumont would be named to the Senate as one of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's 17 new Senators. That didn't pan out.

Westmount Examiner columnist is being a little more cautious in his predictions. He expects that Dumont will be back, he just won't say how or when.

"Mario Dumont is a hero in his home town — the local lad who defied all odds to become the leader of a third political force in Quebec," Laresen writes. "He not only put Rivière-du-Loup on the map, he also served as an inspiration to many young rural Quebecers, showing them that Algeresque success is possible, given the right circumstances."

Larsen holds up two previous small-town Quebeckers -- Jean Chretien and Brian Mulroney, both former Prime Ministers -- as proof that there may be something to the mystique of small-town Quebecois leaders.

"Jean Chretien has always liked to refer to himself as the scrappy kid from Shawinigan, while Brian Mulroney proudly professes to be Baie-Comeau’s political wunderkind," Larsen notes. "Both claims are perfectly true, suggesting that any backwoods Quebec town can spawn a savvy, charismatic leader who has what it takes to rise to high political office."

It's worth noting, however, that both Chretien and Mulroney suffered ignominious fates in Canadian politics. Brian Mulroney backed out the back door before the Canadian people delivered his successor, Kim Campbell, a humiliating and crushing defeat.

Chretien left the Liberal party after his welcome had effectively been worn out, and with a major party-breaking scandal on the horizon. Like Mulroney, Chretien left his predecessor to face defeat, even if a decade of political fear mongering allowed the party to reduce both the scope and the immediacy of their defeat.

Yet the stories of Dumont, Chretien and Mulroney couldn't be more dissimilar in an important regard. As Larsen notes, Dumont built the ADQ from scratch, went on to win his seat in the National Assembly, and eventually transformed his party -- ever so briefly -- into a force to be reckoned with in Quebec politics.

By contrast, Chretien and Mulroney assumed the leadership of established political parties that were already on their way to governing -- a luxury that Dumont has never had.

Then again, few political leaders have ever come back from as complete a defeat as Dumont absorbed in Quebec's 2008 provincial election.

Larsen may be being overly optimistic about Dumont's chances.

"Dumont’s early retirement from political life certainly does not mean we’ll never see his name on a ballot again," Larsen surmises. "He most likely will return one day, probably when 'favourable conditions' prevail. This means he may still be the premier of Quebec one day, or even end up in Ottawa."

At Dumont's age one would be foolish to rule out a return to politics for the man formerly known as Super Mario.

But it won't happen any time soon. Furthermore, the how, when and why of his return can only be in the hands of Dumont himself.

Mario Dumont Is Coming to Your TV

ADQ leader making jump to television journalism

Mario Dumont is coming to your TV.

Well, okay, maybe not your TV. Unless you live in Quebec.

A day after Dumont finally finalized his departure from the leadership of the Action Democratique du Quebec, it's been announced that Dumont will host a public affairs program on TQS.

With Dumont getting set to take this new job, the ADQ can finally get down to the business of choosing his successor.

The task won't be easy.

For one thing, the party has very few rules regarding how a leadership campaign is to be conducted.

"The party has never really had to choose a leader so they're making up the rules as they go along," explains McGill University's Antonia Maioni, who's uncertain that the party will even survive Dumont's departure. "They'll probably have some sort of choice in the fall, but I don't even know if the party is going to get to the fall."

"The ADQ has more or less run its course in trying to become the third party that takes the place of one of the major parties," Maioni insists.

On top of all this, no contenders have yet to bid on the ADQ leadership.

For his own part, Dumont disagrees with Maioni's prognosis regarding the ADQ's survival. "I think I've installed a new political voice in the landscape, despite what they are saying today," Dumont insists.

But there's little question that the ADQ cannot survive without any leader at all. It may even come down to Janvier Grondin, who so recently insisted that Dumont had to depart the leadership so a replacement process could begin, to step in the take the party reins.

No Time to Waste

ADQ needs new leader as soon as possible

When a political party suffers a change in fortunes as drastic as the one the Action Democratique du Quebec suffered over the past year, the most important thing is to start working on repairing the damage and cleaning up the mess.

In order to do this, it's important to have strong leadership.

It's on this note that the ADQ has been in something of a quandry since losing 32 seats in the National Assembly. ADQ leader Mario Dumont immediately announced his resignation following his party's ignomious defeat.

However, Dumont didn't note precisely when he'd vacate the leadership of the ADQ.

Thus the dilemma the ADQ faces. It needs strong leadership in order to mount any kind of comeback in a future election, and needs to begin their rebuilding efforts immediately. But with Dumont prolonging his departure that work cannot effectively begin.

Janvier Grondin, the MNA for Beauce-Nord, gave a radio interview in which he stressed the need for Dumont to depart the ADQ leadership as quickly as possible.

"Everything that drags along gets dirty," Grondin announced. "This shouldn't drag on. A political party without a leader isn't good for anybody."

Unfortunately, the ADQ's rules forbid even setting the rules for a leadership contest until Dumont leaves office, let alone selecting his successor.

Mario Dumont has served the ADQ well. But if he truly doesn't intend to stay on as leader he needs to leave the leadership as quickly as he can. Making his party wait for the opportunity to replace him serves no one well.

Unless Dumont has changed his mind and decided to stay, he needs to go and do so as soon as possible.

Senator Mario Dumont?

Lawrence Martin thinks former ADQ leader could claim a Red Chamber seat

With Stephen Harper set to fill 18 vacant Senate seats, a great deal of musing on who, exactly, Harper will appoint.

In today's Globe and Mail, Lawrence Martin has made an interesting suggestion. Among other such conservative luminaries as Mike Harris and Kim Campbell, Harper may appoint the recently-resigned leader of the Action Democratique du Quebec, Mario Dumont:

"The leader of Quebec's conservative party, the Action Démocratique du Québec, has just stepped down. Mr. Harper needs allies from Quebec, and Mr. Dumont knows the terrain. The PM might even elevate him to a cabinet perch."

At face value, it seems like a worthwhile move.

After Dumont's ascension to the role of Opposition Leader in Quebec's National Assembly, many observers were looking toward a Harper/Dumont tandem as a modern day incarnation of the John Diefenbaker/Maurice Duplessis collaboration that gave Diefenbaker one of the most dominant majority governments in Canadian history.

Instead, Dumont's ADQ was decimated at the polls less than a year later. By appointing him to the Senate -- and possibly even cabinet -- Harper could still salvage something out of the once-promising association with Dumont.

Of course, there's also a downside to such a move. Appointing Dumont to the Senate would make it more difficult for Dumont to ever seek a seat in Parliament -- something that Dumont's previous individual electoral successes demonstrate he is more than capable of doing.

In Dumont, Harper could find what Michael Fortier has decisively failed to deliver: a successful Quebec lieutenant.

Hopefully, Jean Charest Isn't a Poker Player

Charest gambles in Quebec election, and for what?

When Jean Charest left the federal Progressive Conservative party in 1998, it was widely accepted that he was doing so in order to advance the cause of national unity.

Public opinion polls of the time indicated that he was one of the few federalist Quebecers who could defeat then-Parti Quebecois Premier Lucien Bouchard in an election. Charest's change of venue from federal to provincial politics was not, it was assured, done to advance is own career.

Ten years later, it's Charest himself who has cast doubt on that claim with his call of a December election.

If current polls remain stable, this election should have two basic results:

First off, it would return Charest back to power with another minority government. Secondly, it would elevate Pauline Marois and her Parti Quebecois back into the role of the Official Opposition, at the expense of Mario Dumont and the ADQ.

The federalist ADQ.

After reaching the dizzying heights of Official Opposition status in the 2007 election, Dumont's ADQ has plummeted from the 31% of the popular vote they collected that night to 14% in recent polls.

Whether the ADQ's marked decline has more to do with an apparent re-disillusionment with conservative politics in Quebec or a decided improvement in the Parti Quebecois' leadership or disappointment with Dumont's performance as Opposition leader is a matter that will be open to a good deal of speculation in the coming weeks and months.

But there's simply no getting around the fact that Dumont, instead of taking full advantage of the electoral misfortune the Parti Quebecois suffered under Andre Boisclair, has instead called an election that will return them as the Official Opposition.

If Charest were well-situated to win a majority, that would be one thing. But current polls in Quebec have his party sitting at 41% public support. The Parti Quebecois trails with 31% -- a mere six-point difference in the polls.

Certainly, the party is tantalizingly close to a majority government, but could quite easily lose the election altogether. Marois and the PQ currently hold 39% support among Quebec's francophone voters. The Liberals trail them in this critical demographic with 34%.

Polling at the start of the election had the Liberals and PQ in a dead tie amongst francophones.

Not only did Charest not start the election in majority territory, but his party's support is slipping among the province's dominant demographic. All around, this election is not starting off well for Charest, and federalist Canadians, both inside and outside of Quebec, may be hoping in vain for a turn in his fortunes.

It leads one to question Charest's motivations in the first place. Either Charest's political judgment is highly suspect or this election was simply about trying to reclaim his dominant position on the federalist scene in Quebec.

In other words, Charest's jump to provincial politics may not have been about unity at all. Although a great many Canadians would like to think otherwise, Charest may have simply been out for himself.

Now, he's gambling with Canadian national unity. Hopefully, the hapless Charest Canadians are seeing right now is merely him wearing his poker face.

Jean Charest Playing With Fire?

Quebec Premier needs to consider perils of an election

The most recent rumblings out of La Belle Province are that Premier Jean Charest is going to have the National Assembly dissolved in favour of an 8 December election.

"It was quite clear from statements made by the ADQ and Parti Quebecois that they're not in a mood to co-operate with the government," Charest recently announced.

Of course, Charest insists that an election isn't necessarily his option of first choice.

"We think the only responsible thing for the this government -- and for this premier -- at this time is not to call an election, but to look for solutions to the crisis," he insisted.

Quebeckers -- and Canadians at large -- may be forgiven if that sounds familiar. It sounds remarkably similar to Stephen Harper's comments prior to dissolving Parliament and calling the recent election that won him a strengthened minority government.

With the provincial Liberal party approaching 38% public support in recent polls, Charest may have the opportunity to win a majority government.

Or, with the separatist Parti Quebecois holding a 21% lead over the current Official Opposition, the Mario Dumont-led Action Democratique du Quebec, Charest may find himself in a more uncomfortable position after the election -- in a minority government, facing a Pequiste Official Opposition.

Or, worse yet, an election that many view as unnecessary and launched only for partisan gain could swing enough support to the Parti Quebecois to help them regain power in the National Assembly -- and put a separation referendum back on the agenda.

As Chantale Hebert notes, "Before precipitating an election to achieve his dream of reducing Mario Dumont's ADQ to third place in the National Assembly, Jean Charest should ask himself whether a campaign that even some of his closest advisers think is unnecessary is worth the risk of finding himself, afterwards, on the opposition side of the legislature next to Mr Dumont.”

It's a very real possibility. A recent poll has shown that 70% of Quebeckers don't want an election -- and certainly not one this soon after a federal election that, in the eyes of many, still seems inconclusive.

Aside from this, time may seem right for Charest to call an election. His party caucus was recently bolstered by the defection of two ADQ members, Andre Riedl and Michel Auger to the Quebec Liberals.

It would also likely strengthen Charest's claims to definitive leadership of the federalist cause in Quebec, deflating the electoral fortunes of the ADQ -- even if it winds up weakening federalism overall by vaulting Parti Quebecois leader Pauline Marois into the office of the Official Opposition Leader.

If Jean Charest insists on playing with fire and calling an election, he may, like Stephen Harper, come away from it with a stronger mandate. But if he gets burned, he won't suffer alone.

Canada will surely get burned right alongside him -- or may simply get burned in his stead.

Separatist Movement Continues to Splinter

Marois, Legault at odds over state of sovereigntist cause

In the year since the 2007 Quebec Provincial election, it has become increasingly evident that the Quebec sovereigntist movement is becoming increasingly splintered.

In the 2007 election, the Parti Quebecois was oustered from the seat of Official Opposition, replaced by Mario Dumont and the Action Democratique du Quebec. In the same year, the PQ lost their previous stronghold in Saguenay to a Conservative candidate.

Now, admidst piling electoral losses, the PQ are now facing dissention within their own ranks regarding the future of separatism.

Veteran PQ MNA Francois Legault sewed some doubt about the prospects of a future referendum.

"You have to be realistic," Legault said, noting that Quebeckers are losing faith in politicians. "People are not ready to have collective projects proposed to them because they've lost confidence in politicians. If we want to be able to sell to people the importance of having one state, they have to have confidence in the state. Right now, I see a lot of cynicism."

For her own part, PQ leader Pauline Marois disagrees.

"I don't feel that there is that cynicism," Marois argues. "On the contrary, I feel people are searching for new challenges, they yearn to mobilize around new projects that will lift them up."

For his own part, Legault imagines a two-part solution to the conundrum being faced by the separatist movement. "There's a loss of confidence in all the political class so, unfortunately, we have to perhaps go in two stages: re-build confidence, propose an alternative as government to deal with health problems and better deal with the economic slowdown," he says.

But the most recent polls demonstrate sagging support for the PQ's federal counterpart, the Bloc Quebecois.

As such, Mario Dumont may be spot-on when he notes that "It sounds like Francois Legault listened to Quebecers better than his colleagues over the summer. When he turns up at his caucus saying Quebecers don't want a referendum and for us (politicians) to work on other things, I think Francois Legault has made an accurate assessment of what Quebeckers expect today."

With the separatist movement in Quebec clearly splintering, now may be the perfect time for federalist politicians at all levels of power -- Stephen Harper and Stephane Dion federally and Jean Charest and Dumont provincially -- to go on the offense against separatism in Quebec.

Quebec at the Crossroads (?)

Conservative, NDP victories prove have intriguing implications

Liberals and their supporters all over the country must have felt a twinge of agony yesterday, as they were swept in three Quebec by-elections.

In Roberval-Lac St Jean (formerly a Bloc Quebecois stronghold) Conservative candidate Denis Lebel picked up a shiny, new seat for his party. In Outrement, NDP star candidate Thomas Mulcair won only the second seat the New Democrats have ever held in that province. In the third and final contest, the Bloc Quebecois held on to the riding of St Hyacinthe-Bagot, electing Eve-Mary Thai Thi Lac.

Clearly, the NDP’s victory in Outrement is a key one. Aside from winning its second-ever Quebec seat with Mulcair, a popular former provincial Liberal minster of the environment, the NDP may well be able to translate this victory into real inroads into a province that, as surely as it has often stood between the Conservative party and government, has also stood between the NDP and official opposition status.

Equally profound is the victory of Denis Lebel in a riding that was formerly a BQ stronghold. The Conservative victory in Roberval-Lac St Jean comes at a time when the ridings provincial equivalents (the provincial ridings of Roberval and Lac St Jean) are both held by the Parti Quebecois (held by Denis Trottier and Alexander Cloutier, respectively).

When framed against the recent Quebec provincial election, wherein Mario Dumont’s Action Democratique du Quebec (the closest thing to a Conservative party equivalent in Quebec) supplanted the PQ as the provinces official opposition, it appears that the voting coalition that has supported the Parti Quebecois is splintering.

When one remembers that the Parti Quebecois has traditionally found its support among hard-line separatists, and soft Quebecois nationalists of both conservative and social democratic political bents, it becomes unsurprising that parties like the ADQ, Conservatives and NDP are finding room to gain ground in Quebec.

In the long run, however, any objective attempt at such an analysis has to admit that the Liberals will find similar growth room under such conditions. Just because they didn’t find that room yesterday doesn’t mean they won’t do so in an upcoming election. It’s almost inevitable.

It shouldn’t be assumed that the increasing difficulties of the Parti Quebecois mean separatism is dead in Quebec. That was the mistake that Pierre Trudeau made after the 1980 referendum when Trudeau declared separatism to be dead.

He was wrong. It came back to haunt both Canada and the Liberals, and if we assume separatism has been defeated now, it is guaranteed to do so again.

On that note, these by-elections have also found Stephan Dion in the interesting position of apparently trying too hard to be a leader.“It's my responsibility to win the byelection,” Dion announced in the aftermath. “I take the responsibility for what happened and the responsibility to be sure that next time we'll be stronger.”

While a good many Liberals must be relieved to see Stephane Dion finally accepting responsibility for something (a shame he can’t do so, it should be a little less comforting that he has it, well... wrong.

It wasn’t Stephane Dion’s responsibility to win these by-elections for his party – it was the responsibility of his candidates.

Dion’s insistence that he must be responsible for ensuring the victory of his candidates only underscores the very trait that makes him unpalatable to so many Quebeckers – his great love of centralization, both within the country, and within his party. He could arguably considered unique among Liberal party leaders in that he seems to favour the centralization of responsibility as well as merely power, but that is a point for another time and place.

At the end of the day, the most interesting implication these by-elections will have will be on Quebec’s historical tendency to show a united front in federal elections. Currently, the Bloc Quebecois hold the bulk of Quebec’s parliamentary seats with 50 (as of yesterday the Liberals hold 12, the Conservatives 11, and the NDP hold a single seat, along with one indepenent MP).

If the splintering of the separatist vote continues, it’s apparent that a new party will stand as heir to the distinction of being Quebec’s primary representatives in the House of Commons. It would be foolhardy to count the Liberals out, but with so many Quebeckers having such visceral reactions to Dion, it will be all the more interesting to see where these voters splinter off to. In the wake of the ADQ’s provincial triumph and yesterday’s victory, the Conservatives shouldn’t be ruled entirely out, either. At the same time, the NDP will have a unique resonance with Quebec’s many social democrats.

Canadians may well be witnessing another historical turning point in Quebec. Only time (and further elections) will tell.