Quebec, the French Language, and Quebecois Identity

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by vanatox

Looking at colors only can be misleading also sometimes. So many close races. The liberals on the island were not as strong as usual.

Yes, while there were still a couple of Liberal landslides on the island generally speaking the races there were much closer than in the rest of the province, where the CAQ won in a landslide more often than not.

My riding which was a Liberal bastion for decades gave the CAQ 52%. The Liberal and QS only got 13% each and the Conservateur and PQ got 10% each.

[thewave46]

The CAQ gets its big mandate.

What does it do with it?

[vanatox]

Originally Posted by thewave46

The CAQ gets its big mandate.

What does it do with it?

They can focus on the economy and post-covid recovery. The next battle is getting more power regarding immigration, which all political parties agree with.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by Al Ski

Most people vote for QS for their progressive cred.

… aaaaand that’s why they have a hard ceiling at ~15% of the vote and ~10 MPs.

They’re just too far into Loony Left territory to be palatable to most voters.

BTW, you’ve got your trajectories reversed: the PQ at the moment is the ascending one, not QS

[lio45]

Originally Posted by thewave46

The CAQ gets its big mandate.

What does it do with it?

Peace, order, and good government for another four years. As they promised during the campaign. It was even their electoral slogan. “More of the same”. The voters bought it

Also, launch a pharaonic tunnel project (without really needing studies)

[lio45]

Originally Posted by ToxiK

A few years ago (I think it was during the Charest years but i could be wrong), there was the idea to put the election on a sunday. All parties seemed to agree with that until the Liberal party noticed that many of their most motivated voters were retired and they had no problem voting on a monday, so moving the election on a sunday would help the other parties more than the Liberals. The Liberals opposed the idea and that was the end of it...

That is sooooo what one’d expect from the Liberals!

Now that you mention it, it does ring a bell.

[thewave46]

Originally Posted by lio45

Also, launch a pharaonic tunnel project (without really needing studies)

I'm curious about that project.

[hipster duck]

Originally Posted by Acajack

This is a pretty good assessment.

I have always thought there that the QS brand would be more appealling to a broader share of the population in Quebec overall, but now they appear to have plateaued and are unable to break out of the most urban core areas.

Socialism is hitting a glass ceiling all across the Western world.

The core problems of the 2020s will be to decarbonize and retool the economy in a world where geopolitics is uncertain and more of those new industries need to be on-shored. We need a government that can put its head down, get a lot of things built and let that economic transition take place. All countries are racing against the clock here.

Printing money to spend on healthcare for their elderly or to transfer cash to voters' pockets should be really far down the list of priorities in a high interest rate, inflationary environment with record low unemployment and a dire shortage of skilled workers in precisely those sectors that we need to transition our economy. This is especially true in Quebec, which already has a pretty generous list of social programs and really needs to get its infrastructure and industrial base in shape.

I think that the QS' policy of 'free transit' is very illustrative of the inability to read the real world. For starters, that sort of thing only really plays in central Montreal. Secondly, Montreal doesn't need free transit, its existing transit is bursting at the seams! It needs shovels in the ground.

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by hipster duck

Socialism is hitting a glass ceiling all across the Western world.

The core problems of the 2020s will be to decarbonize and retool the economy in a world where geopolitics is uncertain and more of those new industries need to be on-shored. We need a government that can put its head down, get a lot of things built and let that economic transition take place. All countries are racing against the clock here.

Printing money to spend on healthcare for their elderly or to transfer cash to voters' pockets should be really far down the list of priorities in a high interest rate, inflationary environment with record low unemployment and a dire shortage of skilled workers in precisely those sectors that we need to transition our economy. This is especially true in Quebec, which already has a pretty generous list of social programs and really needs to get its infrastructure and industrial base in shape.

I think that the QS' policy of 'free transit' is very illustrative of the inability to read the real world. For starters, that sort of thing only really plays in central Montreal. Secondly, Montreal doesn't need free transit, its existing transit is bursting at the seams! It needs shovels in the ground.

Agreed.

The last point speaks to a broader political problem, which is that too many otherwise smart folks on the left think the solution to insufficient supply is to subsidize demand. Whether its housing, transit, food, energy, etc.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by hipster duck

Socialism is hitting a glass ceiling all across the Western world.

The core problems of the 2020s will be to decarbonize and retool the economy in a world where geopolitics is uncertain and more of those new industries need to be on-shored. We need a government that can put its head down, get a lot of things built and let that economic transition take place. All countries are racing against the clock here.

Printing money to spend on healthcare for their elderly or to transfer cash to voters' pockets should be really far down the list of priorities in a high interest rate, inflationary environment with record low unemployment and a dire shortage of skilled workers in precisely those sectors that we need to transition our economy. This is especially true in Quebec, which already has a pretty generous list of social programs and really needs to get its infrastructure and industrial base in shape.

I think that the QS' policy of 'free transit' is very illustrative of the inability to read the real world. For starters, that sort of thing only really plays in central Montreal. Secondly, Montreal doesn't need free transit, its existing transit is bursting at the seams! It needs shovels in the ground.

Their proposed extra $1000 tax on the ultra-rich was also out of touch, as they initially said it would apply to anyone with 1 million dollars in "assets" according to a very loose definition: farmland, farm equipment and livestock, or for example anyone with a defined benefits pension plan.

This did not go over well in what is already the highest-taxed jurisdiction in North America.

[gunnar777]

A spectacular result for the CAQ almost everywhere in Québec.

And even further proof (not that we needed any at this point) that Montréal, unlike with the typical urban-rural divide seen in other provinces, is a distinct society from the rest of Québec, ironically in large part because of the nationalism of the ruling party.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by lio45

That is sooooo what one’d expect from the Liberals!

Now that you mention it, it does ring a bell.

And the PQ floated the idea of holding a referendum on June 24.

it does ring a firetruck.

[davidivivid]

Originally Posted by thewave46

I'm curious about that project.

The CAQ is really pushing for an 8,3km tunnel linking Lévis to downtown Quebec City.

The tunnel would have reserved lanes for electric buses in both directions and two underground stations with direct links to the tramway system. The first station would be on the Colline Parlementaire and the second in St-Roch, two important employment nods. A first exit will allow motorists to access the Dufferin-Montmorency highway going eastward. The tunnel will then exit near Expocité, where Vidéotron Center is situated. Since the tunnel will exit a little bit further from downtown than previously envisionned, it will allow the Laurentienne highway to be converted into an urban boulevard between Expocité and St-Roch. The cost is estimated at between 6 and 7 billion dollars (though it could and will vary between 10% to 30%) and it would take 10 years to complete.

It is completely bonkers to build such a pharaonic infrastructure. It was revealed during the last few weeks that no studies have been conducted to evaluate the need/faisability of such a project...


• Video Link


Here's how it would be integrated to the transit system.



https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/179...IZlA5F99fXEcEPXo7dimdUXs2wN9qAOGpWZWgdOs

[MonctonRad]

I vote instead for a tunnel below the Fleuve St-Laurent between Matane and Baie Comeau instead.

Just imagine what such a project would do for the Bas St-Laurent.

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

I vote instead for a tunnel below the Fleuve St-Laurent between Matane and Baie Comeau instead.

Just imagine what such a project would do for the Bas St-Laurent.

I’d much rather bring A85 across Saint Lawrence and meet an extended A40 there.

[Acajack]

We'd need a bridge across the Saguenay at Tadoussac first, guys.

[lio45]

I have no strong opinion on the Third Link. I see pros and cons to it.

I’m just curious to see whether it’ll be far enough along to be un-cancellable by the time we get a new government

[New Brisavoine]

Originally Posted by Al Ski

Yeah well we're about to see how capitalism-as-usual is about to monumentally fail - again!

2008 x 10!

The Left has been predicting the failure of capitalism since... about the 1850s? Capitalism was supposedly terminally ill in the 1920s, then in 1968, then 2008, etc...

Capitalism will bury you all I'm afraid.

[New Brisavoine]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

No thanks. Losing Quebec is losing Canada.

The question is whether Canada hasn't already lost Québec. They are there without really being there.

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by New Brisavoine

The question is whether Canada hasn't already lost Québec. They are there without really being there.

What do you mean by that?!?