Ca marche, ca roule!

Fascinating piece on the changing political landscape in Quebec in the weekend Post, including this quote from Maxime Bernier:

The 20th century was the century of the state. The 21st century has to be the century of the individual.

The more I think about this Bernier-for-Finance idea, the more I like it. There is clearly something happening in Quebec, North America's most over-taxed, over-indebted, over-governed jurisdiction. The ADQ bubble of 2003, the Bouchard manifesto, and now the Conservative surge: the province is signalling that it's ready for change, provided it comes in the right package. The opportunity here isn't just to flip another 20 seats into the Tory win column. It's to change the subject: to move Quebec firmly off the federalism-separatism axis, and onto a debate about the size and role of government -- not which state, but how much state. Bernier's appointment would send a shockwave through the province. His role, very clearly, would not be to bring home the butin, but to bring the enterprising spirit of the Beauce to the province at large -- to make Quebec into Le Grand Beauce. (La Grande Beauce? C'est la Beauce, mais le Québec...) L'AFTERTHOUGHT: One thing's for sure: the Bloc is in a mess of trouble, down 7 points from the last election and likely to fall further, without Alfonso and friends to kick around. Their PQ cousins, meanwhile, are stuck with a commitment to hold a referendum in the next mandate, a promise made when they thought victory was assured but which now must resemble an anvil around their necks. Remember how dire, how desperate the prospects were for the separatists before Adscam broke? Le Blog Polyscopique does. L'AFTESTTHOUGHT: And André Arthur for Heritage minister! FOUS D'HARPER: Then there's this absorbing analysis of Harper's supporters by Navigator chairman Jaime Watt. Here's the passage that struck me most:

To our surprise and that of our Quebec partners, Leger Marketing, for some voters Stephen Harper has moved beyond the 'my kind of non-politician' status he has in English Canada. To some in our groups he has become an object of deep affection... It does seem to represent the beginning of an affair between some deeply disenchanted Quebec voters and the new Prime Minister.

An affair? With Captain Bloodless? Ice Cold Steve? The Prime Minister of the Chess Club? Can this be happening? MEMEDATE: UnsolicitedAdvice seconds the Bernier nomination -- then, true to its name, goes on to select the entire cabinet.