Guilbault or the dogmatic
pragmatism of the CAQ
On May 9, 2018, François Legault signed a commitment, along with all the other existing parties
– excluding the QLP – to change the voting system.
In its election platform, the CAQ promised to adopt "a new electoral law to move from the majority voting system to the mixed member proportional system. Every vote has to count."
Once in power, the CAQ worked for months to define a formula. It finally gave birth to Bill 39, which proposed a very moderate proportional system, with regional compensation, among other things. Bill 39 was finally discontinued in December 2021. Pretext: the pandemic...
'Real problems'On Friday, during an inquiry into the CAQ's "broken promises," an exasperated Geneviève Guilbault said: "People don't call us at the riding office to talk to us about the voting system!" Rather, she said, it was to denounce the lack of daycare spaces, of family doctors; the condition of schools; heavy traffic; Inflation at the grocery store.
The web clip sparked mocking comments about the nomenclature of everyday problems the deputy prime minister was dealing with. As if she hadn't realized that she was drawing up a list of "real problems" of the "real world" that the CAQ, after 5 years in power, had failed to solve.
PopulismeIl y a autre chose dans cette tirade, selon moi. Cette idée (fausse) que le problème, reconnu en 2018 formellement par la CAQ, de distorsions électorales sévères, causées par le mode de scrutin, n'était finalement pas si grave.
À preuve, les gens « n'appellent pas au bureau de comté » pour ça. L'argument relève selon moi d'un populisme de bas étage. Si nos élus devaient se borner à ne traiter que les questions pour lesquelles les gens « se battent dans les autobus », leur champ d'action serait étroit.
Deux exemples pour illustrer ceci : les citoyens appellent-ils dans les bureaux de comté pour réclamer une Agence de la Santé (projet de loi 15) ? Ou pour réclamer que les notaires puissent accéder à la magistrature (projet de loi 8) ?
Counties at riskIt should be noted, however, that they call the MNA's office when their riding is in danger of being merged with another, as is proposed by the Chief Electoral Officer for the Gaspé Peninsula. And elected officials, such as Maïté Blanchette Vézina,
wrote angry letters to the Chief Electoral Officer.
However, by abandoning its promise to change the voting system, the CAQ has also abandoned a mechanism, the regional compensation, which, if modulated, could have been used to improve the representativeness of voters. In committee, we could have taken advantage of this to improve our institutions. Should MPs be added? Or enshrine in law the principle that counties should not exceed a certain size? A real debate could even have brought back the idea of creating a second chamber based on regional representation.
But the CAQ still seeks to ignore the problems of our institutions (voting system, federalism, etc.), to treat them as insignificant. This is the result of his so-called "pragmatism" which, in the end, has something dogmatic about it.
– excluding the QLP – to change the voting system.
In its election platform, the CAQ promised to adopt "a new electoral law to move from the majority voting system to the mixed member proportional system. Every vote has to count."
Once in power, the CAQ worked for months to define a formula. It finally gave birth to Bill 39, which proposed a very moderate proportional system, with regional compensation, among other things. Bill 39 was finally discontinued in December 2021. Pretext: the pandemic...
'Real problems'On Friday, during an inquiry into the CAQ's "broken promises," an exasperated Geneviève Guilbault said: "People don't call us at the riding office to talk to us about the voting system!" Rather, she said, it was to denounce the lack of daycare spaces, of family doctors; the condition of schools; heavy traffic; Inflation at the grocery store.
The web clip sparked mocking comments about the nomenclature of everyday problems the deputy prime minister was dealing with. As if she hadn't realized that she was drawing up a list of "real problems" of the "real world" that the CAQ, after 5 years in power, had failed to solve.
PopulismeIl y a autre chose dans cette tirade, selon moi. Cette idée (fausse) que le problème, reconnu en 2018 formellement par la CAQ, de distorsions électorales sévères, causées par le mode de scrutin, n'était finalement pas si grave.
À preuve, les gens « n'appellent pas au bureau de comté » pour ça. L'argument relève selon moi d'un populisme de bas étage. Si nos élus devaient se borner à ne traiter que les questions pour lesquelles les gens « se battent dans les autobus », leur champ d'action serait étroit.
Deux exemples pour illustrer ceci : les citoyens appellent-ils dans les bureaux de comté pour réclamer une Agence de la Santé (projet de loi 15) ? Ou pour réclamer que les notaires puissent accéder à la magistrature (projet de loi 8) ?
Counties at riskIt should be noted, however, that they call the MNA's office when their riding is in danger of being merged with another, as is proposed by the Chief Electoral Officer for the Gaspé Peninsula. And elected officials, such as Maïté Blanchette Vézina,
wrote angry letters to the Chief Electoral Officer.
However, by abandoning its promise to change the voting system, the CAQ has also abandoned a mechanism, the regional compensation, which, if modulated, could have been used to improve the representativeness of voters. In committee, we could have taken advantage of this to improve our institutions. Should MPs be added? Or enshrine in law the principle that counties should not exceed a certain size? A real debate could even have brought back the idea of creating a second chamber based on regional representation.
But the CAQ still seeks to ignore the problems of our institutions (voting system, federalism, etc.), to treat them as insignificant. This is the result of his so-called "pragmatism" which, in the end, has something dogmatic about it.
