Wondering why the CAQ continues to top the polls after four years in power?
It’s simple: Quebecers recognize themselves in François Legault.
It’s not more complicated than that.
EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR
Legault is like the average Quebecer: he is a good Jack, who does not seek chicanery.
When he speaks to Ottawa, he does not demand, demand or claim.
He asks. Hat in hand, like a peasant addressing his lord.
And when we tell him No, he doesn’t get angry.
He quietly returns to the National Assembly, shrugging his shoulders.
And Quebecers do not hold it against him in any way.
On the contrary: they congratulate him, telling themselves that at least he tried.
What do you want, he is like that, the Quebecer.
Good dough, good yable.
As Richard Desjardins sang:
“When I’m gonna be a good guy / Got me to keep quiet / Got me to pay my bills / Got me to learn English / Got me to learn it for real
“Put me underpants / Read me the Gazette / Checked me for sports / Made me count the dead
“The money will come in / Not too much, but steady / My laminated photo / Employee of the year…”
That’s what Quebecers are.
A good guy.
Who doesn’t ask too much.
Who is satisfied with little.
And don’t make too many waves.
Are we insulting him? He does not answer.
He doesn’t even demand an apology.
A NICE BIG COUTU JEANS
Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois likes to compare François Legault to Duplessis.
Indeed, like the Chef, our PM likes to give gifts to his constituents (refrigerators for one, $500 checks for the other).
But personality radius, we are poles apart.
Because Duplessis had character! He did not hesitate to raise his voice! To bang your fist on the table! His tantrums were legendary!
Whereas with Legault, we are in line with Bourassa.
We grumble but don’t bite.
And then, another quality that Quebecers like in their PM: he hates ideologies.
QS is social justice. The PCQ, freedom. The PQ, sovereignty. The PLQ, the rights of the Anglos.
These parties have a nail, a single one, and keep hitting it.
While the CAQ looks like a Jean Coutu pharmacy. You can find everything there, even a friend.
Licorices forward, pills back. And adult diapers in between.
Do the polls show that Quebecers like cucumber pie? We’re going to make them cucumber pie.
We will never go further than where they want to go.
Unlike the tenors of the PQ who wanted to pull the Quebec people up and guide them towards the green pastures of sovereignty, Mr. Legault is not a locomotive.
He’s a companion.
Like a shrink, he listens to us, shaking his head. And repeat what we just said.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
We get the governments we deserve.
The day Quebeckers get angry, they will have an angry government.
Until then, they will vote CAQ.
Waiting patiently outside the door of 24 Sussex, hat in hand and spit running down their backs…
