Saturday, April 24, 2010

2161...Welcome To The Archie Bunker

You may recall WFDS Post 2141...Can You Say Prime Minister Bernier? . In that piece I talked about how he stepped up to the plate back a week or so ago.

This is not resonate well in La Belle.

Graeme Hamilton in the National Post saves you a trip back to Post 2141 "A week ago Mr. Bernier, the Conservative MP for Beauce, delivered a speech to party members in Mont-St-Gregoire, Que. The title, 'For a proud, responsible, autonomous Quebec,' sounded innocuous enough.
But the pride, responsibility and autonomy that Mr. Bernier was advocating involved a break with what he considers Quebec's debilitating dependence on federal transfer payments."

" 'Let's be frank: Many people in the rest of the country perceive
Quebecers as a bunch of spoiled children who are never satisfied and
always ask for more...This perception has some basis in
reality.'"

Did not resonate well in the bunkers of Quebec.

"The speech led Quebec's Finance Minister, Raymond Bachand, to
accuse Mr. Bernier this week of 'Quebec-bashing.' The Parti
Quebecois called the comments 'contemptuous,' while the newspaper Le Devoir reported that Mr. Bernier has taken to 'flaying' Quebec as he travels the country. One columnist has suggested Mr. Bernier should
buy a one-way ticket to Alberta. Jean-Francois Lisee, an influential
sovereigntist commentator, delivered the ultimate insult, writing that Mr. Bernier has taken over the late Pierre Trudeau's role as 'the Quebecer who speaks badly of Quebec.'"

It is germane to note that Mr. Bernier comes from La Beauce which is to Quebec as Quebec is to Canada. It is also germane to note that he is ridiculously popular, garnering a plurality of over 20,000 votes in the last run for the roses.

He is safe at home and unlike a lot of provincial Quebec politicians who are provincial he seems to see the bigger picture.

If the Tories eat him, as they are want to do with their young, he could make a great Liberal Prime Minister.

WFDS

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