La Belle Province - L'Aout de Discontent

As was foretold Jean Charest 'wunderkind'  of 'Qaybek' politics and channeller of the later, greater Maurice Duplessis (without the milk of human kindness), has 'come a cropper' on his 'law and order' smack-down of, what should have been a page 10 student protest.  His Liberal party placed second in this week's provincial elections and he was unseated in his own riding.

A long, long, overly long, political career has come to an end. He can now receive a 'due reward' from his business pals. That he got smoked by a 'mere bagatelle' is both the result of bad timing and bad management. Those students were 'out to get him' after he had them beaten, and, apparently, they got the majority of Quebecois on-side with them.

 Both his causal 'tuition increases' and his anti-demonstration laws are being struck-down by the new party in power. I'll bet even some 'winning' Liberals vote for that. So much for political 'will' from the stupid. Whoever advised him to follow those approaches should be 'enshrined'.  I would hope the PQ goes after the idiots at Surete Quebec who blindly 'followed orders' - of such were concentration camp guards made.  A Bas the riot squad - and no pension for any of them.

The papers, to-day, are fulsome with tributes to Charest - leaving with 'his head held high' after accomplishing so much for Canada, and Quebec. That might well be the case to-day, but the final chapter of his book isn't written yet. It's hard to see how the leopard could change his spots, or how Charest - an apparent political opportunist who could morph from a Conservative to a Liberal to get ahead could have been as perfect as some media sources claim. That he would have approved the actions of the police riot squad after that first 'confrontation' and pegged the student leaders as beyond rational discussion, is an indicator that he could get things very badly wrong.

We'll have to wait and see about M. Charest.