Quebec – Page 5 – mackaycartoons

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

April 9, 2014 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Quebec Liberals win majority: ‘Division is over’

Philippe Couillard’s Liberals have won the Quebec election with a majority government, crushing the sovereigntist Parti Quebecois and Premier Pauline Marois.

Liberal candidates won in 70 of the province’s ridings, the Parti Quebecois won 30, the Coalition Avenir Quebec took 22 and Quebec Solidaire picked up three. The PQ got about 25 per cent of the popular vote, its lowest share since 1970.

In a stunning turn of events, Marois lost her own seat in Charlevoix-Cote-de-Beaupre to Liberal Caroline Simard.

Couillard, who was a neurosurgeon before he entered politics, easily won his riding of Roberval, defeating PQ incumbent Denis Trottier.

Taking the stage at Liberal headquarters after most of the ballots had been counted, Couillard vowed to run an inclusive and “stable” government that represents the interests of all Quebecers.

“Our language, our flag belongs to all Quebecers,” he said.

Addressing the province’s anglophones in English, Couillard said: “We are all Quebecers. We should all focus on what brings us together. What unites us makes us stronger.”

He later added in French: “Division is over; reconciliation has arrived.”

In her concession speech, Marois announced she will step down as PQ leader and ensure an “orderly transition.”

“Quebecers have spoken and we must respect this result,” she said. “We had so much to offer, so much to accomplish for Quebecers.”

The defeat of the PQ came after a 33-day election campaign many observers described as one of the nastiest in decades.

The Parti Quebecois had only been in power for 18 months. Its controversial values charter, which aimed to prevent public sector workers from wearing “ostentatious” religious symbols, and the push for sovereignty did not sit well with voters.

For many, it was no surprise: opinion polls had been putting the Liberals in the lead for days leading up to election day. (Source: CTV News)

Monday April 7, 2014

April 7, 2014 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Monday April 7, 2014

Election gut check for Quebec’s Pauline Marois

As invective took over the Quebec election campaign these past several days, PQ Leader Pauline Marois suddenly seemed to become more intimate with the electorate.

There she was prefacing so many sentences with the very personal “between you and me …”

It may have been just a tic, or more likely a device to soften her “Concrete Lady” image and deflate the partisan nature of the latest contretemps.

Of course it can also be seen as a last, almost intimate appeal from someone who now realizes she has rolled the dice on probably the biggest gamble of her political life, and that events may not be working out quite the way she thought.

Marois has been a constant on the Quebec political landscape for almost 35 years. First elected, while pregnant, to the National Assembly in 1981, Marois has been a prominent cabinet member in the governments of René Lévesque, Jacques Parizeau and Lucien Bouchard.

Like her or not, people here feel they know her. Quebec’s first woman finance minister, first woman party leader (on her third attempt), and first woman premier, in 2012.

Clearly, her campaign slogan — Déterminé — is more than bluster: she is indeed one determined woman.

But, now, perhaps more than ever, a weekend away from election-day Monday, Marois’s entire future is on the line.

Short of securing the majority she seemed so confident she would win just four weeks ago when she called the vote, she may well be forced to take her leave, even as early as Monday night.

If such is the case, she’ll join ranks with Alberta’s Alison Redford and Newfoundland’s Kathy Dunderdale in the new subcategory of female premiers forced to resign for losing their party’s favour. (Source: CBC News)

Other Media: Reprinted in iPolitics, The Western Star, Corner Brook NL, Whitehouse Daily Star

There are disasterous PQ leaders, and the legendary ones. I met a legend in 1986. There may never be another René: pic.twitter.com/l4Hws39hzo

— mackaycartoons (@mackaycartoons) April 8, 2014

Thankfully, Quebec can finally move forward #cdnpoli #qcpoli pic.twitter.com/J1D0gVlDZg

— mackaycartoons (@mackaycartoons) April 8, 2014

Post by L’Expérience lol78.

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

March 26, 2014 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Marois tries to change the channel from alleged student vote fraud

After a weekend spent spreading the spectre of widespread voter fraud by out-of province students that was debunked by Quebec’s chief electoral officer, Parti Québécois leader Pauline Marois tried to change the theme to integrity Monday, suggesting the Liberals are lacking in that category.

But the false voter allegation issue refused to die at PQ news conferences, while in Sherbrooke Liberal Leader Philippe Couillard suggested it was a sign Marois’s campaign was in panic mode.

After a brief presentation by Marois in Drummondville explaining why the PQ was the party of integrity as compared to the Liberals, the first question put to her was whether she still had faith in Quebec’s chief electoral officer.

On Sunday, PQ Justice Minister Bertrand St-Arnaud said the Quebec election could be “stolen by people from Ontario and the rest of Canada,” accusations Marois said Sunday made her “sick to her stomach.” The PQ demanded daily reports of new voter registrations.

Marois, accompanied by St-Arnaud, backtracked Monday, but denied suggestions the allegations were exaggerated for electoral gain.

“We do not put in question the integrity of the chief electoral officer,” Marois said. The requests for an investigation were justified, she said, because an Elections Quebec employee reported unusual numbers of non-francophone voters, especially university students, trying to register to vote in the downtown Montreal PQ stronghold riding of Sainte-Marie-Saint-Jacques. Four other ridings were said to have similar issues, she said, confirmed by a spokesperson for Elections Quebec and reported by Le Devoir. Several media outlets later reported the issue as well, she said. (Source: Montreal Gazette)

Thursday, March 13, 2014

March 13, 2014 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday, March 13, 2014

Is the Rest of Canada still willing to fight to keep Quebec?

“Until next time!” pledges René Lévesque, after his bid for separation was soundly beaten on Referendum Night in 1980. With Quebec now beginning another election campaign — and the Parti Quebecois looking good in early polls — is Canada heading for the next time? Some are asking if it has the will to fight for Quebec one more time.

The Parti Quebecois has come a long way in the 18 months since Madame Marois came to power with a minority government. And the first poll of the campaign – conducted yesterday morning by Leger Marketing — shows the PQ with a strong lead among francophone voters. Most indications at the outset of the campaign are that she will emerge this time with a majority.

And while the PQ hasn’t committed to holding another referendum on Quebec sovereignty, Madame Marois said in February that she is a separatist and if elected she has the right to hold one if the support is there.

Popular support for that within Quebec is one thing. But nearly 20 years since since the last referendum, how energetic is the rest of Canada for another fight for Quebec?

Michael Den Tandt says the appetite to fight to keep Quebec in Canada is waning. He is a columnist with Post Media and joins us from our Ottawa studio. (Continued: CBC News)

SOCIAL MEDIA

Shared at: iPolitics and…

Post by L’Expérience lol78.

Wednesday February 12, 2014

February 12, 2014 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday February 12, 2014

Quebec carrying the Olympic ball for Canada in Sochi

SOCHI, RUSSIA – Every Winter Olympics, some Quebec journalists keep track of the medals won by athletes from La Belle Province compared to the rest of Canada. Usually it’s just for fun, but the truth of the matter is Quebec usually kicks ass at Winter Games, and is doing so again. Of the nine medals won by Canadians as of Tuesday, six were won by athletes from Quebec, compared to three from TROC — and that’s giving the team figure skating medal to The Rest Of Canada.

Medal drought days of Olympics past

There are certain teams within the Canadian team that are dominated by French Canadians — especially the short-track speed skating team and moguls. Tradition and geography come into play. Moguls skier Mikael Kingsbury, who won a silver medal behind another Quebecois, Alex Bilodeau, on Monday, grew up idolizing moguls skiers in his native province. For the 21-year-old Kingsbury, his hero was 1994 Olympic freestyle champion Jean-Luc Brassard.

“For me it was an inspiration, wanting to be like him,” said Kingsbury.

As for the geography, Kingsbury said: “We’re not from the west of Canada. We don’t have the big mountains, the nice powder snow. We have smaller mountains, ice-snow, so it’s harder conditions, so we work harder, the bumps are harder, and we learn faster.” (Source: Toronto Sun)

SOCIAL MEDIA

This cartoon made a bit of a splash on a French language Facebook Page called L’Expérience lol78.

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