Well, Good Luck, There

"I think we have a very successful co-existence with the English, but the attraction of English to immigrants and even to some francophones is setting back French in Quebec" ...Yves-Francois Blancket, PQ language critic

With the writ dropped, and Jean Charest feeling that it is now or never, the "most federalist premier" Quebec has had in quite some time, is prepared to be welcomed back by the electorate to another four years of calm and prosperity.  Before the report on corruption in the construction industry and possible government involvement is presented, that is.

To the Parti Quebecois, this represents an opportunity to restore themselves to government.  So they can more effectively contest the federal government to prove to Quebec voters that they were right to elect them back to power.  So they can groom the population once again to consider sovereignty.  To that end, they are prepared to promote a more aggressive federal-provincial relationship.

Pushing the federal government a little harder, bit by bit, to accomplish the right atmosphere for the final push which, with the passionate assistance of an electorate feverish with the promise of independence, will give them the majority they need for separation.  First things first, though.  Quebecers need to shrug off the reality that under the Liberals of Jean Charest they're more prosperous than ever.

That, despite the debt situation of the province.  Which launched the Liberal government into an incendiary stand-off with militant student unions over the modest proposal to raise university tuition, which even so would result in the lowest tuition rates in all of Canada.  Perhaps Jean Charest is counting on voters retaining their disgust with the students' disruption of law and order, and defiance of court orders.

Their blocking of highways and bridges, destruction of public property, interference with the majority of university students being able to access their lectures and studies to achieve their school year.  All of which Pauline Marois and the PQ applauded, along with Quebec unions which, apart from the construction unions, all decry the Liberal government and champion the PQ party.

The PQ has immediate plans to defy Ottawa at the earliest possible opportunities.  And to do that successfully they need to become the government.  The federal government has always in the past caved in to Quebec demands.  "If we obtain what we are seeking, well, the appetite grows with eating.  People will realize that, contrary to what they are told, we able to do more and do it better, by and for ourselves."

Once back in power, they will take more stringent views on language restrictions.  Relegating English to the trashpile.  The PQ has plans to extend the protective features of Bill 101: 18-year-old students may vote but not choose their language of study.  Non-subsidized private English schools currently exempt will be obliged, along with day-care centres, "to welcome and interact in French" with children.

Businesses with fewer than 50 but over 10 employees will have to ensure their workplace operates in French. Access to English-language CEGEPs, private schools and daycares will be much more difficult, especially for immigrants; francophones and the children of immigrants receiving state-subsidized education must attend French schools.

And then, "at the time considered appropriate", a PQ government would prepare to hold yet another, definitive, successful referendum.  Premier Charest identifies his vision as being focused on employment and the economy, contrasting that with the PQ's obsession with sovereignty.

"Unlike the Liberal leader, I will not decide on the future of Quebec without consulting the Quebec people", stated Pauline Marois proudly.