Lucien Bouchard sends Josée Legault into a Tizzy

 I've always maintained that the Montreal Gazette runs a column by separatist Josée Legault as an avant garde exercise in liberalism, wherein they publish opinions of those who hold views at odds with what the majority of their readers believe, in the guise of  'balance' and 'fairness'
It seems that not that many are interested in reading her drivel and few pay attention to what she actually says. Those like myself read it much as we are drawn to a gory car accident. Not even her editors were much interested in her last piece, they even didn't bother to correct a major typo in her banner.

I assume she meant to say that Lucien Bouchard, the ex- PQ Premier of Quebec  is "OUT of touch" with Quebeckers. Gazette editors were so embarrassed by their gaffe, theydidn't even bother making the correction in their online version. Maybe nobody complained, I wouldn't be surprised

In the article she rips into Lucien Bouchard in reaction to some painful remarks he made at a conference last week, wherein he tore a strip off sovereignists rather cruelly.

His remarks caused an uproar in PQ ranks because it touched on the fundamental raison d'etre of the Parti Quebecois- sovereignty.  Ms. Legault and other sovereignists, who are rabidly committed to the option, set out to destroy the messenger, rather than the message itself and so, the Internet and newspapers are rife with ad hominum attacks on Mr. Bouchard and his brother Gerald, who as you may know, represents 50% of the famous Bouchard/Taylor Commission on Reasonable Accommodations.

First let's summarize very briefly what Lucien Bouchard said. It isn't that complicated.

1. Forget about sovereignty, it's unattainable.
2. Shed your xenophobia and stop abusing immigrants over 'reasonable accommodations'
3. Concentrate on fixing up Quebec, especially in the areas of education and finances.

Those are fighting words for dedicated sovereignists and it was inevitable that the reaction was swift and furious.

To Ms Legault, because Mr. Bouchard's remarks don't reflect current popular Quebec thinking, he leaves himself open to becoming irrelevant and out of touch.

Now being in touch and pandering to the politics du jour is an ignoble and necessary trait for politicians that vie to remain in power.  For Ms. Legault's information, Mr. Bouchard no longer is an elected official and can reveal his true feelings without fear of alienating the electorate or his party.
For an intellectual, towing the line and parroting the mantra of conventional wisdom, is none to interesting and nothing more than a quick ticket to  ignominy.

If ever there was a role for 'intellectuals' like Mr. Bouchard, it is in doing exactly the opposite, confronting and challenging ingrained popular theories and beliefs that are in his opinion, flawed.

By Ms. Legault's estimation, Albert Einstein or Isaac Newton also risked being irrelevant and out of touch because they chose to challenge the scientific status quo.

Ms. Legault errs by holding to the theory that a majority opinion, by definition, is necessarily correct and those who attack it, are 'out of touch."

According to her, if 75% of Quebeckers believe that making 'reasonable accommodations' to immigrants is bad for Quebec, it must be true.

If that is so and 75% of Quebeckers believed that the Earth is flat, that too would make it true.
Like I said, drivel....

It takes a strong character like Mr. Bouchard to oppose this nonsense, someone who is impervious to  nasty personal attacks, launched by those who wish to discredit a contrary and inconvenient opinion.

A lot of PQ insiders are angry that Bouchard took a public swipe at them. They believe that it isn't  'cricket' for an ex-leader of the PQ to so publicly damage his own party. If he disagreed, they held, he should of just shut up.

But Bouchard didn't and the why he did it, is the question of the day.

Some believe that he seeks a return to the political arena and is looking to create a rainbow coalition of ex-PQ and ADQ members to form a nationalistic right of center party. There are oodles of talented intellectuals on all sides of the political spectrum who abandoned the political arena out of frustration.

But the truth is probably less glamorous.

Bouchard is said to be furious at the treatment his brother is receiving by French language and cultural militants, including senior members of the PQ.

Some opine that Bouchard's outburst is just payback for the abuse and mistreatment his brother received, who by nature is not political and too mild mannered to defend himself.

The most cruelest and most unflattering insult  compares his  brother Gerald to the fictional  character "ELVIS GRATION" created by uber-Canada hater and nasty separatist, Pierre Falardeau, a recently deceased Quebec filmmaker.

The character was a burlesque caricature of an Elvis impersonator, portrayed as a stupid, conservative, racist that the director linked to Quebec federalists.

It's hard to match analogies across language lines, but comparing the elegant, poised and highly intellectual Gearld Bouchard to Elivis Gratton is somewhat akin to comparing Christopher Hitchens to Homer Simpson.

In a quick opinion poll, gauging the reaction of Quebeckers to Mr. Bouchard's remarks, over 70% percent of Quebeckers agreed strongly or somewhat with what Bouchard said.

It must be true then. Right, Ms. Legault?