Joined: Sep 06, 2006
Posts: 1195
Location: Valhalla Mountains, British Columbia, Canada
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Well, André Boisclair, the gay leader of the nationalist Parti Québecois has had his *ass* handed to him on a platter.
I'm too lazy to look up a link, but it won't be hard to find this story come morning. Premier Jean Charest (Liberal) held onto the job, just barely, with a greatly-weakened party and just squeaking out a win in his own riding. He now has a minority government.
Mario Dumont (Action Democratique Québec) roared out of third place to capture the role of leader of the Official Opposition. (The ADQ is the furthest right on the political spectrum of all three parties.)
And Boisclair, the priviledged bright young good-looking gay guy from Montreal, who was supposed to appeal to the moderates and centrists, ended up running a gaffe-prone campaign, and despite greatly lowered expectations, failed to meet even them. He placed third, and pundits and commentators were still looking a little dazed when I shut the tee vee off.
(The Parti Vert and Québec Solidaire -- centre-right and centre-left, respectively -- each got three or four per cent of the popular vote, but no seats.)
The big story of the night was Dumont's surprisingly strong showing, which no one really saw coming, despite the fact that everyone knew the race was very, very tight.
The *second* biggest story though, was Boisclair's Big Face-Plant (closely followed by Charest's skin-of-the-teeth win -- but then, that part wasn't *such* a big surprise).
What does it mean for Boisclair? My guess is, he's toast. The PQ is famous for savaging leaders who don't perform, and Boisclair most certainly did not. I'd be surprised if he lasts out the month.
Did his homosexuality play a role? I suspect it did to some extent; the PQ vote virtually collapsed in the rural areas, which has always been an area of strength for the PQ. Of course, there was also his admissions of past cocaine use, his reputation for being distant and aloof, and what cannot be underestimated is that the voters in Québec are *almost* as deathly sick of referendums on "the National Question" (separatism) as voters in the ROC (Rest of Canada) are. Dumont profited mostlt from:
1) Not being Charest
2) Not being Boisclair
I could go on and on, but I won't -- I'll let you find your own analysis, if you're interested. BUT...
Despite all the reasons I've listed above, I wouldn't be at all surprised to soon read people saying the PQ lost because they elected a fag for leader. I could be pleasantly surprised, and that will not happen, but I will not be surprised in the slightest if it does.
And, as a result, I predict Boisclair will be the last out gay or lesbian leader that any political party in Canada will select in the forseeable future (just in case, y'understand...)
Not that there was anyone that I know of waiting in the wings, mind you. But still, I'm just saying... |
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"The dignity of an animal is measured by his capacity to revolt in the face of oppression." -- Mikhail Bakunin
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