If Andrew Scheer was planning on making inroads in Quebec, Chantal Hebert writes, his opposition to a carbon tax has doomed his efforts:
In Quebec, the anti-carbon pricing platform Scheer has been spending the fall shoring up is dead on arrival both in the National Assembly and on the ground.
As for his commitment to the Energy East pipeline — a project designed to transport oil from the Prairies through Ontario and Quebec to the Atlantic Coast — it amounts to a target on the back of his candidates as well as an incentive for Quebec’s premier to keep at a safe distance from the federal Conservatives.
The passion which used to be spent on Quebec sovereignty is now finding voice in environmental activism:
Tens of thousands of Quebecers took to the streets this weekend to call for more decisive action on climate change. In Montreal alone, 50,000 took part in the demonstration.
In the short space of a week, more than 150,000 signed a pledge that commits them to reduce their carbon footprints but also demands more proactive leadership on the issue from governments.
Newly elected premier Francois Legault has taken note and intends to ride the wave:
Among the right-of-centre premiers and leaders who have emerged since Justin Trudeau became prime minister, Premier François Legault already stands alone in support of the federal climate-change framework. The Quebec cap-and-trade system put in place under previous governments is there to stay.
Quebec has always gone its own way. And, on the issue of the carbon tax, it will do so again.
Image: The McGill Tribune
4 comments:
Clearly, we have a lot to learn from the Quebecois when it comes to fervour, Owen. Most of us seem too complacent to rouse ourselves to demonstrate or even meekly protest the fact that the world is collapsing around us.
My experience, Lorne, has been that -- when French Canadians take a stand -- they are passionate. It's never wise to ignore them.
.. I've lived and worked in Quebec.. skied and snowboarded too ! Rode quarter horses seasonally & almost weekly in the Gatineau Hills. Heck, along with a close friend we actually commuted weekly from Guelph to Ottawa & Hull for our bartender shifts, working both cities.. later I shot all the initial promotion videos for The Weather Network, again commuting, from Toronto. And shot in many of the northern mines Old Quebec City and the Plains of Abraham enchant me.. the sense of history is so strong there. Wolfe & Montcalm.. whew ! The toboggan ride at the Chateau Frontenac ! The Eastern Townships are simply wondrous.. its such an 'all seasons' province.. Unfortunately, my french remains at 'bar french' level, as essentially all the restaurant and camera crews I worked with were seamlessly bilingual
But I always laugh when fellow Canadians 'don't get it' .. the 'distinct society' thing.. To me its one of the most essential aspects I take away with me when departing Quebec.. It must be in the very air, the soil, the cheese or reaches out and grabs you from the great St Lawrence. So in a sense.. Quebec does not surprise me.. it just that it always surprises me. Maybe that's what it is.
A young soundman I was training seemed surprised when I asked him to put in a specific CD and turn up the volume.. way up. We were approaching Montreal near rush hour. George Thorogood.. louder, crank it. I knew from long experience you had to shift your mental gearshift. We were Ontario plated, the off n on ramps here were 1/2 the length of kindly Toronto, if that, lane markers? What lane markers? No time for slowpokes! What a buzz!
Canada needs to get up to speed re Quebec.. relearn or learn.. but get with it toute suite. Scheer is incapable of such gearshifting.. plods along with his 'war room' associates. Energy East is dead. It was strictly to move dilbit to the Irving superport for export.. just another aged pipeline. Watch out for Quebec.. its unique, it can turn on a dime, the pots and pans never out of reach.. and people young and old can hit the street running & leave a political animal's head spinning
You're right, sal. Quebecers can fill the streets on a moment's notice. Scheer and his compatriots are set to make enemies in Quebec -- the kinds of enemies that can make their lives difficult.
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