This same gap that Justin Trudeau wanted to denounce last Sunday by claiming that he still prefers a sovereign Quebec to Harper Canada too. The son of former Prime Minister do not go softly: Canada is in "going too far right," he "becomes petty, small-minded, closed, anti-intellectual," it "back" on issues crucial to him. "Excuse me, but I do not recognize this country. And millions of Canadians do not recognize this country, "Mr. Trudeau launched a dramatic tone.
The allusion to the sovereign Quebec (one way "provocative" to tell it to "wake people up," said MP) has earned Justin Trudeau few attacks calling him a "closet separatist." But beyond the spectacular nature of his statement, the fund has also generated a lot of reactions: for a Trudeau come to suggest that it would be more comfortable in an independent Quebec in Canada where a code of values have been redefined by the Harper Conservatives, is that there is something wrong.
"What Justin Trudeau expressed, it is a deep frustration of Quebec federalists in regard to how Stephen Harper transforms Canada," says former Liberal MP Pablo Rodriguez, associated with the more progressive wing of the Liberals . "Many of us share his view that it no longer recognizes itself in the values and policies that are put forward in Ottawa. We feel the gap is larger. This is true across Canada, but it is especially true in Quebec. "
Examples abound of decisions decried: Appointments of unilingual persons to key positions; eliminate the registration of long guns with refusal to transfer the data to the provinces; withdrawal of the Kyoto Protocol and the banning of environmental groups ("radicals "injurious to the economy); abolition of mandatory long-form census for reasons of respect for privacy ... notion that Bill C-30 on the monitoring of Internet users do not bother, however.
One can also mention the stubborn refusal to reconsider the purchase of F-35 aircraft while several partner countries are stepping aside, the confrontation with the provinces on the mind and the costs of the bill on justice , given the sudden drop to undo the reputation of Canadian new home for immigrants; campaigns creeping on the death penalty and abortion, the unqualified support to Israel's direction not to reject the information drawn off by Foreign intelligence agencies by torture, etc..
Redefining Canadian identity symbols also affects the mind, whether monarchical frenzy that gives more value to a portrait of the queen as a canvas Pellan (and engages 7.5 million to celebrate 60 year reign of the Queen's Jubilee medals shots) or patriotism exacerbated military (including the cost of a war memorial - that of 1812 - whose historical significance is far from consensus).
Even in economic terms - terms of strong conservatives - the critics are many. The tax cuts for businesses and reducing the GST from 7% to 5% will deprive the government of at least 16 billion annual revenues over the next year (about 6 billion per point of GST, and 4.7 billion less in income tax business in 2013 compared to 2010). This will force the state to impose major cuts elsewhere to return to balanced budgets: the next budget would cut $ 10% of the total program expenditures.
This week, the rating agencies Fitch and Moody's also cautions against the dangers Ottawa to impose draconian austerity measures too, the return to budget balance is not so pressing. Economic growth could be affected by these cuts are feared.
How
Beyond issues such as, how conservative mind also. Jean Charest recently denounced the saying - about the announced reform program of Old Age Security - that "democracy, it is not:" I won, you lost, I do what I want " ". But if one relies on the new reform the refugee system, the Conservatives do not see it this way: the government has crossed a line all the compromises with the opposition when he filed the previous version of the project law, which has not had time to take effect.
It's all to say that Pablo Rodriguez we are witnessing a "profound clash of values." "The problem is that no one in the Conservative caucus can stand up to defend the common values of Quebec. The five members who are here have the bitch of Harper, "he said.
It can be argued that the situation is not new: the vote on May 2 have shown the Conservatives' rejection by Quebecers (16.5% support). And across Canada, less than 40% of voters in the end voted for Mr. Harper's troops.
But Maioni, director of the Institute of Canadian Studies at McGill, raises that "it seems that the gap has widened since the month of May, especially in Quebec, because it is before a government is the majority who are less likely to put water in his wine, "she said. "In the minority, there were constraints on its action. Here we see how far the government's thinking may go, "suggests Ms. Maioni.
Pablo Rodriguez believes in that "conservatives will be their worst enemy: they will not know where to stop, and it cause a ras-le-bol and a major outrage." He cites the example of anti-Twitter campaign Vic Toews this week, around Bill C-30. "People are disgusted, they say."
Historian Matthew Hayday, who teaches at the University of Guelph and is particularly interested in Canadian identity, is not afraid to talk about the possibility of a break point next. "What we see in recent weeks, it is the realization of the agenda that the Conservatives want to impose since 2006. Out of the minority, they can go wherever they want and they profit: thus we see a government that emerges more ideological and causing greater division and clearer between [the progressive and conservative visions of society], he said. How far could it go? I do not know. But I know it's not healthy. "
Mr Hayday believes that the gap is important not only in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada. "Justin Trudeau has focused on Quebec values, but progressives in Canada are also angry that Quebecers," he said. Maioni shade, however the comment. "Opinion is more monolithic in Quebec, the differences in values are smaller."
An Angus Reid poll published in the current issue of the magazine The news tends to prove him right: the question of whether Canada is on the right or the wrong direction, only Quebec responds mostly in the negative. "The feeling of being speechless due to the low representation of Quebecers in the Conservative caucus amplifies this impression," says Maioni.
Communication problem?
In this context, the president of the conservative Brome-Missisquoi, Peter White, acknowledges that "there is truth in the words of Justin Trudeau this week," and that the work of curators' night at the federation ".
But he believes that it is not as problematic policies as how to communicate - a situation he denounced in a letter a month ago. "The reason for the shift, I think, is that Stephen Harper does not take the time to explain what it does to Quebecers. There is no communication, his ministers are invisible, and during that time, his enemies have all the space. Mr. Harper has abandoned the field and we see the result: there is a disconnection, people are suspicious of him and he does nothing to fix it. "
Mr. White cites the party to abolish the gun registry. "The only comment I heard was that Maxime Bernier said that people had the right to celebrate. It did not explain that some MPs have been campaigning for 15 years that, we never made any poll supposedly say that Quebecers are in favor of the abolition of the register. It never explains anything. "
But the problem is a communication or values, the result remains the same: the gap is starting to look like a chasm, Pablo Rodriguez notes. Who wants something to happen before the country reaches a point of no return ... Justin Trudeau and eventually take his map of the Bloc Quebecois.
Original Article
Source: Le Devoire
Author: Guillaume Bourgault-Côté
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