Erin O’Toole, the Man of Rubber

KAMOURASKA, QUE.—“I will give Quebec the powers of a nation.” Quick: what Quebec nationalist said that? Was it premier Maurice Duplessis in the 1950s, PQ premier René Lévesque in the 1970s, or his successor premier Jacques Parizeau in the 1990s? Nope, none of the above. It was Conservative Party Leader Erin O’Toole, in his “contract” with “Les Québécois.” No, that was not a typo. The contract is with “Les Québécois,” even though the English version of Québécois is “Quebecer.” You see, the implication is that only francophones are genuine citizens of Quebec. This is only the latest instance of pandering on the campaign trail by the leader journalists are calling the “Teflon Man,” but who is more the Man of Rubber: flexible enough to adapt to any situation, and lacking the backbone to stand for any principle. In this artful approach to politics, Mr. O’Toole is not alone. He is joined by his fellow leaders Justin Trudeau, Jagmeet Singh, and, of course, Yves-François Blanchet in throwing the 1.2 million English-speaking Quebecers under the bus. A population equal to or bigger than six provinces (Saskatchewan, Manitoba, P.E.I., Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland and Labrador) is basically chopped liver. But the Conservative leader has made this Contract with Expediency a virtual cornucopia of goodies for Quebec nationalists. He is offering, within 100 days: Increasing Quebec’s powers over immigration; Working with Quebec to apply Bill 101 to federally regulated businesses; Respecting the right of Quebec to pass its own laws to protect its language and culture; Negotiating the establishment of a single tax return for Quebec. On Sept. 9, Quebec Premier François Legault, who had warned Quebec voters of the “centralizing tendencies” of the Liberals, NDP, and Greens, said “For the Quebec nation, Mr. O’Toole’s approach is a good one.” Of course he would; each of the areas offered are in federal jurisdiction. Giving them away would be providing Quebec with the, um, powers of a nation. As O’Toole often boasts of his military record, there is more than a hint of irony that a man who once defended his country would now want to give it away. Although this may prove successful for the Conservatives, the repercussions across the country could be significant. When other provinces see the powers Quebec gets, they will be clamouring for some of their own. On the stump, O’Toole even allowed how he would not interfere in a province’s decision to limit abortions, as he would never contest a provincial law. I have mentioned before O’Toole claims Quebec citizenship, having been born there, even though his family skedaddled out of la belle province pretty darn quick after Lévesque was elected in 1976. However, in his contract, he treats his fellow citizens of the Quebec Nation as foreigners. In a Kennedysesque turn of phrase he says “I dream of a Canada where the French language is well-protected, where Quebecers are heard, and where Quebec has all the tools to ensure its prosperity. Together, we will preserve your heritage, your language, and your history.” Note that he says your history, not our history. I guess O’Toole is just not the Québécois he imagined himself to be. What is terribly ironic about his strategy of appeasing, I mean appealing, to Quebec is most Quebecers don’t really care about policy. Their key determining factors in voting are whether someone is a native son (both Trudeaus, Chrétien, and even Stéphane Dion did well on that basis) and what party will win in the province. “Did you win your election?” is a question asked the morning after a vote. Journalist Lysiane Gagnon once said Quebecers watch an election like a hockey game and want to be on the winning side. So long as they looked like the winners, the Conservatives didn’t have to promise anything to Quebec: they just had to win. If O’Toole does win on Sept. 20, he will wake up with a mounting pile of IOUs to people like Legault, who will be telling him to “pay up.” Or he may lose the election by alienating his base in the West and Ontario by being perceived as too generous to Quebec. As they say, “When you dance with the devil, you don’t get to pick the tune.” Andrew Caddell is retired from Global Affairs Canada, where he was a senior policy adviser. He previously worked as an adviser to Liberal governments. He is a fellow with the Canadian Global Affairs Institute and a principal of QIT Canada. He can be reached at pipson52@hotmail.com. The Hill Times