Is Pauline Marois running to be the next Liberal premier of Quebec?

I've decided that I have a certain fondness for Parti Quebecois leader Pauline Marois. She seems to be a moderate in her party, she acknowledges that bilingualism might be an asset for job advancement, and now she wants to free herself of the obligation to run an election campaign that would require her to hold a referendum on sovereignty association if she won.

Instead, Marois would like Quebec to "go to the limits of what can be done within the existing system", and perhaps strengthen language laws and promote nationalism in the Quebec history curriculum. Funny, that sounds to me like what Quebec's premiers have been doing ever since the days of Jean Lesage in the 1960s. Federalism, contrary to what separatist leaders have long claimed, is a remarkably flexible political system, and Quebec has a lot of power at its disposal under the existing terms of the Constitution. I'm going to be very curious to see - if she succeeds in convincing her own party's militants - how she plans on distinguishing her agenda from Jean Charest's!

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Pauline Marois talks sense, is attacked by rabid unilinguals

I am rather pleased to note that even Parti Quebecois leader Pauline Marois is coming around to the realization that children have more opportunities in life if they are bilingual. I'm not surprised that she would be quickly attacked for her statements, but it does seem to indicate that those who viewed her as a more moderate, pragmatic politician were correct.

Now if only it were possible to convince more English-speaking Canadians that it can be useful (if not essential) to speak and read a second or third language...

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And then there was one. Third time the charm for Marois

I don't think anyone would have predicted a week ago that Gilles Duceppe would essentially be forced out of the PQ leadership race due to an underwhelming level of support from the party. But it seems that this is the case, and that Pauline Marois' third run at the leadership of the party will be unopposed.

Never let anyone tell you that Quebec's politics aren't the most interesting in the country.

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So much for the triumphant coronation...

Interesting. I'm not entirely certain what to make of the fact that Pauline Marois has decided to run against Gilles Duceppe for the leadership of the Parti Québécois.

To read most of the press coverage to date, it is tempting to conclude that this is simply a matter of Duceppe not being overly popular among the PQ's elected MNAs, and perhaps being mistrusted as an "outsider" by PQ party militants.

However, I'll stick my neck out and offer another possible explanation. Earlier reports today had the Marois and Duceppe people feeling each other out. I'm going to suggest that they might have jointly decided that it would be better for the party (and the separatist movement) to have an active leadership race, featuring at least two high-profile candidates, than to simply hand the job to Duceppe, and thereby reinforce the perception that the PQ leadership is a job that nobody really wants. I'm by no means certain that this is the case, especially given the deeply rooted animosities within the PQ tent, but I'm in the mood for thinking outside the box on a Friday afternoon.

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