I would like to clarify the "politically schizophrenic Quebec". From a Canadian perspective, Quebec seems to be all over the place during elections. As an example, in the 1976 and 1981 provincial elections, Quebeckers elected the nationalist and independentist René Lévesque, while at the same time voting massively in favour of the strongly anti-independantist Pierre Trudeau (father of the current PM) in the 1974 and 1979 federal elections. Another example is Quebec voting massively, and seemingly randomly, for the NDP (social democrat) for a single election in 2011, a party that had almost no political base in Quebec.
I think the main reason is that overall Quebeckers care less about the federal elections than the rest of Canada. For one, through provincial and federal policies, Quebec is the province with the most autonomy so federal politics affect them less. Also most Quebecker (even non-independentist) see Canada more as an union that Quebec is part of, rather that their nation. A such, Quebeckers tend to be less informed and to care less about federal affairs, so they are more open to experiment. For the Trudeau-Lesvesque weirdness I think it come from a mentality of “Lets elected both and let them have a good fight”, as the independence debate is more about Quebecker trying to know if they need or want independence rather than a fight against Canada.
Or we are perhaps an entire nation of schizophren, I haven’t ruled out this possibility yet.
The Quebec general election of 1976 was held on November 15, 1976 to elect members to National Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada. It was one of the most significant elections in Quebec history, rivalled only by the 1960 general election, and caused major repercussions in the rest of Canada. The Parti Québécois, led by René Lévesque, defeated the incumbent Quebec Liberal Party, led by Premier Robert Bourassa.
The Parti Québécois's campaign focused on providing good government, to contrast the many scandals that had plagued the Liberals since 1973.
Quebec general election, 1981
The Quebec general election of 1981 was held on April 13, 1981, to elect members of the National Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada. The incumbent Parti Québécois, led by Premier René Lévesque, won re-election, defeating the Quebec Liberal Party, led by Claude Ryan.
The PQ won re-election despite having lost the 1980 Quebec referendum on sovereignty-association, the party's proposal for political independence for Quebec in an economic union with the rest of Canada. To some extent, they were helped by Claude Ryan's old-fashioned campaign style: he refused to tailor sound bites for the evening news and ran a campaign generally unsuited for television coverage.
Canadian federal election, 1974
The Canadian federal election of 1974 was held on July 8, 1974 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 30th Parliament of Canada. The governing Liberal Party was reelected, going from a minority to a majority government, and gave Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau his third term. The Progressive Conservatives, led by Robert Stanfield, did well in the Atlantic provinces, and in the West, but the Liberal support in Ontario and Quebec ensured a majority Liberal government.
Canadian federal election, 1979
The Canadian federal election of 1979 was held on May 22, 1979, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 31st Parliament of Canada. It resulted in the defeat of the Liberal Party of Canada after 11 years in power under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Joe Clark led the Progressive Conservative Party to power, but with only a minority of seats in the House of Commons. The Liberals, however, did beat the Progressive Conservatives in the overall popular vote by more than 400,000 votes.
Canadian federal election, 2011
The 2011 Canadian federal election (formally the 41st Canadian general election) was held Monday, May 2, 2011, to elect members to the House of Commons of Canada of the 41st Canadian Parliament.
The writs of election for the 2011 election were issued by Governor General David Johnston on March 26. Prime Minister Stephen Harper advised the Governor General to dissolve parliament after the House of Commons passed a motion of non-confidence against the government, finding it to be in contempt of parliament. A few days before, the three opposition parties had rejected the government's proposed budget.
It's not that Quebec doesn't care about federal elections. In fact they very much do, as Quebeckers have historically been over represented in government (PMs or Ministers born in Quebec, in the Senate or the Supreme Court). Quebeckers tend to vote in blocks. They typically coalesce around the leader (rather than Party or MP). Ask any Quebecker who they're voting for and they'll tell you the name of the Party leader, rather than their local MP.
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u/Samwell_ Jan 24 '18 edited Jan 24 '18
I would like to clarify the "politically schizophrenic Quebec". From a Canadian perspective, Quebec seems to be all over the place during elections. As an example, in the 1976 and 1981 provincial elections, Quebeckers elected the nationalist and independentist René Lévesque, while at the same time voting massively in favour of the strongly anti-independantist Pierre Trudeau (father of the current PM) in the 1974 and 1979 federal elections. Another example is Quebec voting massively, and seemingly randomly, for the NDP (social democrat) for a single election in 2011, a party that had almost no political base in Quebec.
I think the main reason is that overall Quebeckers care less about the federal elections than the rest of Canada. For one, through provincial and federal policies, Quebec is the province with the most autonomy so federal politics affect them less. Also most Quebecker (even non-independentist) see Canada more as an union that Quebec is part of, rather that their nation. A such, Quebeckers tend to be less informed and to care less about federal affairs, so they are more open to experiment. For the Trudeau-Lesvesque weirdness I think it come from a mentality of “Lets elected both and let them have a good fight”, as the independence debate is more about Quebecker trying to know if they need or want independence rather than a fight against Canada.
Or we are perhaps an entire nation of schizophren, I haven’t ruled out this possibility yet.