I think it's fair to say that time has borne me out and that this opinion wasn't just a partisan shot.
While I generally disdain all pequists, past and present, I am the first to say that many PQ governments of the past were made up of men and women with a certain level of competence, responsibility and yes, honour, all of which is sadly lacking in Pauline's motley crew.
Let me provide PART TWO of a report card on the ministers of this government, cognizant of the fact that I am not a fan, something like a Montreal Canadiens fan rating the Boston Bruins, player by player.
Bernard Drainville- I
Just reading the convoluted ministerial title tells me that the job has been created artificially to fill a need, like the president of a large corporation naming his son or daughter to a job with a fancy title and no responsibility.
Bernard Drainville has been rewarded for his disloyalty to Pauline Marois with a job that can best be described as an accident waiting to happen.
In the best tradition of keeping your friends close and your enemies closer, Pauline has sent poor Bernard on a fool's errand, handing him the unenviable task of shepherding the secular ‘Charter of Quebec Values,’a potential time bomb where in the case of an explosion, it will be poor Bernard who gets his brains splattered.
Let's go back a bit to the dark days of the PQ last year, where it looked likely that Pauline's leadership would not survive as the party was down in the dumps in the polls.
Many in the PQ were panicked and some were making overt and covert runs at Pauline's top job.
But we all know how it ended, Marois dispatching her arch rival Gilles Duceppe with a cleverly planted revelation that he probably abused his position in Ottawa as head of the Bloc Quebecois, by paying partisan salaries out of his office budget.
But Drainville also took a shot at the leadership, more discretely and respectfully.
"Considered a likely contender in any future PQ leadership race, Drainville even gave a round of interviews in which he took thinly disguised jabs at his leader.And so when Pauline survived, he wasn't sent to Siberia, but was definitely put on the Pauline's
“If the Parti Quebecois doesn’t bring itself closer to the people we won’t get through this,” he said, referring to the party’s low polling numbers at the time." Link
Now during the leadership crisis, Drainville published what has to be the most nonsensical set of ideas which he claimed would reinvigorate Quebec democracy.
Some of Drainville's proposals were clearly incompatible with our Parliamentary system, including the proposal of electing the Premier directly as in the United Staes.
Even more bizarre was his proposal that citizens would be able to force Parliament to act in accordance to the edicts of a referendum initiated by citizens themselves.
"One political scholar expressed bafflement that the PQ would ever have considered the idea.And so Drainville, got what he wanted or more to the point, what he deserved, the impossible job of re-inventing Quebec's democracy, suckered along by Marois, just as before when she nixed the consultative referendum which was duly passed at the party congress.
"Citizen-initiated referendums are not very compatible with a British-inspired parliamentary system," said Antonin-Xavier Fournier, a professor of politics at CEGEP de Sherbrooke.
"Citizens themselves can't oblige Parliament and the Crown to adopt a law. It's what we call 'the supremacy of Parliament.' "
This, Fournier said, is hardly top-secret information.
"This is constitutional law 101," he said." Link
Like the proverbial fool, Drainville is rushing in where angels fear to tread and going full speed ahead with the Charter of Quebec Values, a law designed to discriminate against minority religions, all in the name of collectivity.
I won't get into the juicy subject here, but will offer just one observation.
One of the precepts of the proposed law is the banning of religious regalia in public service, a direct attack on Muslim women who wear a headscarf to work.
The law applies to all, but let's face reality, there aren't a lot of Sikhs, Raëlins, or Hasids working at the license bureau.
Come to think of it, I renewed my permit a couple of weeks ago and was served by a nice young lady wearing a headscarf.
Was I offended?....what do you think?
If the law goes through, will this young lady have to decide between her faith and her job?
Dranville has already started his tap dance around the issue of Christianity in public, telling reporters that the celebration of Christmas and Easter are 'civic' holidays and therefore exempt from the law and that the Crucifix in legislative bodies is also exempt because it is a 'patrimonial icon.' ...Arggghh!!
Last week he complained that a parking exemption, afforded to the Jewish community (for the last thirty years) for one of their holidays was something he opposed as an unreasonable accommodation.
When Lise Ravary, a columnist at the Journal de Montreal pointed out that there is a parking exemption in Longueuil for Good Friday, Easter, and Christmas, Drainville remained silent.
If you are wondering what my mark of "I" means, let me explain.
Drainville has cabinet position that is evil and destructive.
To do a good job would be bad for the province and to do a bad job would be good for the province.
Drainville is bad at his job and therefore good! er.....I hope you follow the logic...
It is akin to being good or bad at running the Ministry of Silly Walks....Hmmmm!
Therefore I have decided to bestow the unique mark of "I" for "Idiot"
Réjean Hébert- D
The photo of the Health Minister is just a reminder of his political and social affiliation.
With apologies to Philippe Couillard ( and my old pediatrician Dr. Victor Goldbloom,) I'm always suspicious of doctors turned politicians. It is hard to understand why they willingly give up ten years of medical training for a job that pays considerably less
When Réjean Hébert came on board as health minister, you'd think his first order of business would be to address the 20 hours plus waiting period that is the norm in Quebec emergency rooms.
Imagine requiring stitches for a nasty cut and being told that not only would you have to wait almost a full day before seeing a doctor, but you couldn't choose to pay for the service privately because it is some horrific violation of the Health Act.
The bizarre fact is that a Montrealer can drive to a Plattsburgh walk-in clinic, be stitched and home in about three hours!
Nope, all this is of little import to the good minister, instead Hébert decided to tackle the important file of the Lachine hospital which is affiliated with the MUHC, the English umbrella organization for health services in Montreal.
After being pushed hard by language militants to change the hospital's affiliation to French, the minister announced that the hospital would henceforth be run by a francophone oversight organization prompting a groundswell of resistance.
After a spirited campaign that highlighted the folly of such a move, supported by anglophones and francophones frightened at the potential deterioration of service, the minister caved.
"Hébert told reporters at a news conference that maintaining the hospital’s affiliation with the MUHC “seems to be the best solution in terms of achieving the goals of this hospital.”Hebert is a separatist idealogue, an academic ill-suited to real world problems. He remains part of the coterie of cabinet ministers who put independence and language before the general well-being of the province.
That’s a far cry from what Hébert said in January when he said the MUCH would never make Lachine a priority and announced it would be managed by the CSSS de Dorval-Lachine-LaSalle.
But public outcry forced Hébert’s hand. The Save Our Lachine Hospital committee formed six years ago, returned to action, collecting thousands of names on a petition insisting the hospital remain affiliated with the MUHC.
“It was a big concern, ” said hospital employee Evelyn Van Eyken, “You would lose that connection with the larger hospitals, you would lose the expertise of the larger hospitals.”
Many worried that under the management of the CSSS, the hospital’s quality of care would deteriorate." Link
Shame on him...
By the way, since being shamed by the Lachine affair, the minister, like Nicolas Marceau has kept his head down, a good idea considering..
Nicole Léger- F
But not in a PQ government, where the politics of language and socialism are applied.
First let us acknowledge the standard about-face that seems to dog just about every cabinet appointment, wherein a minister announces a new intuitive, policy or program and is promptly forced to do an embarrassing about-face because of public outrage.
On October 17, 2012;
"Bill 101 is going to be changed," Léger said in an interview. "I will have plenty of support as family minister to make sure it also extends to daycares....and then October 18, 2012;....
Immigrants to Quebec who want to send their children to daycare will soon have to look into finding a French-language centre, the government said Wednesday, outlining the latest plank in its plan to overhaul the province's language laws. Link
"Family Minister Nicole Léger, in an interview with The Canadian Press, said she wanted changes to the language law known as Bill 101 to include daycare centres, suggesting that the provisions of the law that restrict access to the English-language school system should also apply to daycare services. On Thursday, Ms. De Courcy said that would not happen." LinkHmmm......
But all this doesn't compare to the fiasco in daycare file where Leger has entered into a firestorm in implementing the PQ platform to add some 32,000 $7-a-day spots.
She announced that she would be creating these new spots by expanding the public daycare system instead of giving the private daycare system a chance to fill the 10,000 vacancies that presently exist.
Imagine building new daycare centres at a cost of about $2.5 million each, when places are going begging in the private system, just because they must charge full pop.
By just turning over the subsides to the private system, the province would save millions and millions.
But the PQ is beholding to the unions and so it's anti-business policy is put before sane financial management.
“Why give 85% of places to CPEs when they cost more to society,” argued daycare owner Bambina Gagliaidi. “You’re having a problem with finances and you still want to spend more in CPEs when they cost more to taxpayers. It’s nonsense.” LinkAnd to add fuel to the fire, the Minister demanded that those private daycares that do have subsidies, kick back some $15 million dollars to the government because they run too efficiently and make too much profit.
These for-profit daycares are not unionized and of course work hard to keep costs down, as any business. With the same subsidy per child that the public daycare system needs to operate, the private daycare can generate up to $100,000 in profit per centre.
That's too much for the minister and so she wants a piece of these profits by way of reducing the subsidy.
This led to the outraged private daycares to hold a 'strike' for one day, enraging the Minister who promised to fine each participating daycare about $3,000 for each day closed.
Her lightening reaction to the 'strike' had opposition politicians furious.
Liberal leader Philippe Couillard argued the PQ is in no position to try to muzzle protesters.To be fair to Nicole Léger, this initiative is not hers, but represent decisions made at cabinet.
“I would like to know by which logic the sound of certain pots and the colour of certain squares appear more sympathetic to the government than others, given the fact they participated themselves when the squares were red and they banged the pots, so how come these pots and these squares are not treated the same way,” said Couillard. Link
She is in many respects just a mouthpiece, doing the bidding of the government.
After her monumental gaffe and humiliation over French in daycares and the subsequent backpedal, she too has learned a lesson and now has become a dopey puppet to ventriloquist Pauline Marois .
Stéphane Bergeron- B
Minister of Public SecurityI have to say, I think Stéphane Bergeron is the second best minister in the Marois cabinet.
He hasn't done anything amazing, but on the other hand he hasn't made any gaffes or about-faces, quite an achievement in this cabinet!
His first order of business was to purge the Sureté de Quebec of its top brass as payback for the botched security detail that led to Pauline Marois to be placed in harm's way of an assassin.
The video of her Keystone Cops handlers dragging her one way, only to reverse direction is classic among law enforcement agencies around the world and serves as a textbook case of what not to do. Video
The Minister was showing the Sureté who was boss and his frontal attack on the national police demonstrates clearly that there were no skeletons in his closet.
The Sureté is famous for keeping compromising 'files' on politicians and VIPs, in the finest tradition of J. Edgar Hoover!
The Public Security minister is basking in the glow of the Charbonneau Commission which is a big hit with the public and although it was Premier Charest that launched the inquiry, it is the present government and Stéphane Bergeron who are getting the credit for the cleanup.
At any rate, no news is good news and Bergeron carries himself rather well, projecting a serious and
He has largely stayed out of the political fray but is responsible for calling an inquiry into last year's student protest, no doubt meant to humiliate the Liberals.
With the police brotherhood and the Liberal party already announcing that they will not participate, and the students complaining about the format, it looks like a white elephant in the making, but all this remains to be seen. Link
Bertrand St-Arnaud- B+
Minister of Public of Justice
No gaffes, no humiliating about-faces and certainly not the appearance of incompetence demonstrated by so many of his cabinet colleagues.
In fact St-Arnaud was praised by federalists for his support of a gathering in Quebec City of interested parties concerning the promotion of victim's rights. Link{fr}
Mr. St-Arnaud also went on record as saying he wants to increase jail sentences for repeat drunk drivers who seem to offend over and over again.
"St-Arnaud says he wants to legislate a one-year jail term for a fourth infraction, and two years for a fifth infraction.
St-Arnaud says the Quebec and Alberta governments also want to pressure the federal government to modify the criminal code." Link
Both these initiatives cross political lines and enjoy wide support.
One thing that stands out is what he did not do, that is cave in to union demands to reverse the Charest governments Bill-30, that removed the construction union's right to place workers on job sites.
The unions are so angry with the PQ for refusing to reverse the law, that they are actually suing the government over the issue and have named the justice minister in the lawsuit. Link{fr}
And finally let us remember that it was Bertrand St-Arnaud who took his own leader to task after Pauline Marois made an injudicious comment after some accusations implicating the PQ were made at the Charbonneau Commission.The unions are so angry with the PQ for refusing to reverse the law, that they are actually suing the government over the issue and have named the justice minister in the lawsuit. Link{fr}
Marois told reporters that the Commissioner, France Charbonneau 'needed to proceed with caution' which probably wasn't meant as a threat, but did sound like one.
The justice minister felt compelled to respond, saying;
"She (Charboneau) is a master of the witnesses called, she is master as to what approach she uses and I, as Minister of Justice will not comment on the evidence or how the Charbonneau Commission operates" Link{fr}Well said!
And so it seems that I haven't finished with the cabinet review and so will offer another installment in the near future.
SPECIAL NOTE:
Readers, as the summer approaches and the political actions subsides, I'll be taking it a bit easier, hopefully enjoying the pool with family and friends (AND MOST IMPORTANTLY----GRANDCHILDREN!)
And so I'll be posting just twice a week, on Monday and Thursday, but promise to bring some interesting (I hope) insights and perhaps chart a bit of a different course.
Many people write to me and complain that I do a lot of harping without ever proposing solutions.
Fair criticism.
I'm going to try to remain positive as I hope you all will. At least for the summer.
Whether you agree with me, are against my ideas or are indifferent, there is a common bond that we all share, that is the preciousness of summer, something that Canadians across this country, regardless of language, political persuasion, race or religion hold dear.
On Thursday I'll offer an extended post about entitlement, that is, the entitlement of politicians and a view as to what makes politicians (of all stripes) betray our trust.
I'm already working on it and without tooting my horn, believe that you will find it interesting in a non-partisan sort of way.
Until then!
