About workin' all summer just to try to earn a dollar...
Sometimes I wonder what I'm a gonna do
But there ain't no cure for the summertime blues
Eddie Cochrane's Summertime Blues
Jean Charest has dropped the writ and yet another battle for the hearts, minds and votes of Quebec is underway. The Premier of Quebec, seeking to secure another term, in Quebec City, his fourth if success is his, adding some more years on his resume since he assumed the Office of the Premier in 2003.The baggage however this time around is a little heavy for Charest, his government provides all the telltale traits of a tired government, running out of answers and weighed down by some of its past history.
The corruption inquiry over the last year, not exactly providing for a ringing endorsement of good governance in the province, the tuition battles with students in the spring offering up street battles and perceptions of near anarchy.
Montreal Gazette-- Quebec 2012 election: The cult of personality
Montreal Gazette-- Timing of Duchesneau announcement will be key
Montreal Gazette-- Here's a gold medal guide to Quebec summer games
National Post-- 'Abrasive' whistleblower takes anti-corruption fight to Quebec election
National Post-- Student protestors target Quebec Liberals as provincial election kicks off
Toronto Star-- Quebec voters unimpressed by political choices
Toronto Star-- CAQ's Francois Legault could be game changer in Quebec election
Toronto Star-- Quebec election timing won't be more auspicious for Liberals
Globe and Mail-- Student unrest an election tinderbox in Quebec
Globe and Mail-- Charest needs to address the elephant in the room
Globe and Mail-- Jacques Duchesneau's candidacy changes Quebec political game
Globe and Mail-- The Quebec Diaries: Why daycare trumps the economy
Whether those issues and a few others come back to scupper Charest's bid for a return to office will provide for the talking points until the September 4th polling day.And yet, once again and seemingly ever more, the question of Quebec's place in Confederation will once again prove to be the underlying theme of the campaign, as PQ leader Pauline Marois currently leading in the polls (all be it by the slimmest of margins) seeks to fan those embers of the past, taking the cloak of Levesque and Bouchard to try to stir up common cause for the ancient cause.
Not that we would suggest Madame Marois has the same political CV as those patron saints of would be nation building.
Montreal Gazette-- Duceppe and Marois teaming up for the first time
Montreal Gazette-- Parti Quebecois leader Pauline Marois says 'non' to English language debate
National Post-- PQ hopes taking harder line will open back door to separatism
National Post-- PQ goes all-in on student movement as protest leader to run for party
National Post-- Parti Quebecois promises to scrap Jean Charest's tuition hike plan if elected
National Post-- No red square for former Quebec student leader Leo Burea-Blouin...
National Post-- The PQ intends to demand money and foster resentment? No kidding
Globe and Mail-- Pauline Marois has much to prove in second campaign as PQ leader
Globe and Mail-- Francophone support gives Parti Quebecois the edge
Globe and Mail-- PQ to student protestors: Truce is best way to derail Charest
Globe and Mail-- Parti Quebecois takes the lead ahead of election: poll
The separatism issue may in the end be the one wedge issue for Charest that can provide him with victory. Charest will be making the economic argument that he best can handle the provinces finances in trying economic times. Building on his leadership and relationships with the other Canadian Premiers and with Ottawa.
The PQ, which seem anxious to return to the days of brinkmanship, perhaps could take a look at the larger world economic picture these days, a scenario that perhaps is not the best climate for the wishes of creating an independent land.
But those ancient dreams die hard and for now, the lines are being created and Quebec's voters will once again seemingly be asked to decide if they wish to go through another era of uncertainty, leading up to yet another referendum battle.
A potential wild card into the campaign is the emergence of the Coalition Avenir Quebec, though the election still has the traits of a two horse race to the finish line, with the CAQ but a trailing pony at this time.
Charest we imagine is banking his political capital on the thought that they will forgive his government's troubled past of late and stick with the path of calm and hopefully financial growth.
Montreal Gazette-- Charest calls on every Quebecer to vote on Sept. 4
National Post-- Jean Charest tries to strike dear of referendum into hearts of Angolophone voters
National Post-- Quebec Liberals hope fright factor will scare up one more mandate
National Post-- Jean Charest hangs his his re-election hopes on Quebec's 'silent majority'
National Post-- Jean Charest's Liberals are better than the alternative
National Post-- Charest begins campaign with an edge over splintered, mediocre opposition
Toronto Star-- Sherbrooke will be ground zero in Charest's battle to remain Quebec premier
Globe and Mail-- Charest unveils plan to create 250,000 jobs in Quebec
Globe and Mail-- Charest calls for 'silent majority' support ahead of Sept. 4 election
Globe and Mail-- Charest tells voters to head to polls to avoid referendum
Globe and Mail-- Charest is his own broken record, or is it cassette tape?
Globe and Mail-- Charest vows to protect Rona as Quebec election looms
Globe and Mail-- Seeking fourth term, Charest brings federalism to the fore
Perhaps the most worrisome thing for the federalist side of Canada's never ending political debate, is that at the moment, there doesn't appear to be anyone else to pick up the Federalist torch in the province, the bench strength if you will, grows pretty slim after we look past Mr. Charest.
It's to that dynamic, one where the head of a tired government with the whiff of corruption still in the wind is the best option for most Canadians, that the Quebec election will unfold.
Once again as the Quebecois head to the polls, the ramifications on the larger federation loom large upon the electoral returns.
Toronto Star-- PQ Victory in Quebec election will blow up Ottawa's status quo
Toronto Star-- PQ candidate Jean-Francois Lisee says Conservatives paving way for referendum
National Post-- Equalization tensions could 'destroy unity' in Canada: Ex Bank of Canada Chief David Dodge
Globe and Mail-- The Pequistes don't scare Canada now
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