There’s no doubt that Pierre Karl Péladeau could be a game-changer in the Quebec election, but perhaps not in the sense Pauline Marois was hoping for when she recruited him as a star candidate for the Parti Québécois.
One thing is certain: It will be all about him. It already has been since Sunday’s announcement of his candidacy in St-Jerome. Making a clenched fist as he looked into the cameras, Péladeau declared his goal “to make Quebec a country.”
Well, if sovereignty and the prospect of another referendum weren’t on the ballot last week, they certainly are this week. Liberal Leader Philippe Couillard now has the perfect pretext to campaign flat out against another referendum.
Speaking of which, Péladeau told Radio-Canada on Monday that the 1995 referendum “was stolen, pure and simple,” by the No side.
That would be the referendum won by the No by a margin of 50.6 to 49.4 per cent.
There are people voting in this election who weren’t born in 1995, but the memories linger of broken friendships and divided families. Thanks for reminding us of that, Pierre.
Campaigning with Marois on Monday, Péladeau was asked if he would sell his controlling shares in Quebecor, if ordered to do so by Quebec’s ethics commissioner.
“I have no intention of selling my shares,” said Péladeau, who has said he’ll place his shares in a blind trust. So he’d still be the controlling shareholder, with 28 per cent of Quebecor shares and 74 per cent of the voting rights. This position is firm, he said, “and won’t change.” He said he wanted to make sure Quebecor’s head office remained in Quebec. As if it’s moving to Toronto anytime soon.
But Marois later said at a news conference with Péladeau that he’d have to abide by whatever the ethics commissioner decides. Péladeau later put out a statement saying he would respect “the law, and the code of ethics and conduct of the National Assembly.”
So there wouldn’t be two laws, one for Péladeau, and one for everyone else.
Péladeau’s day wasn’t over. He gave a Q&A to La Presse, whose reporter asked very leading questions about whether he “might play a role similar (to that of Lucien Bouchard) if there were another referendum.”
Péladeau allowed how “it might be interesting to note what my CV can offer” but it would be up to the premier to determine his role. The headline over the story: “Péladeau, negotiator for Quebec?” The front-page headline Tuesday was even more startling: “A CV to negotiate with Ottawa.”
As for the economy: “It will be advantageous in the sense that we could have all the powers and attributes of a state, that power wouldn’t be shared between two orders of government, between the federal government and Quebec.”
Speaking to other reporters about the strong pro-Canadian bias of his Sun newspaper and TV properties, Péladeau allowed: “I’ve always been a sovereigntist and I will remain one. But business is business.”
The fact is that Péladeau, as head of Quebecor, has been very good at playing both sides of the street.
At the launch of Sun TV in 2010, he said in Toronto: “This is a great day for Canada.” Dubbed Fox News North, Sun has struggled in remote channels on the TV spectrum, while Péladeau campaigned for must-carry status with the CRTC.
But otherwise, Quebecor has done very well in federal jurisdiction. Its Videotron cable and Internet unit is a licence to print money. And through Videotron, Quebecor emerged last month as the fourth player — after the Big Three of Rogers, Bell and Telus — in the federal wireless spectrum auction. In the event of Quebec independence, would Quebecor still be a Canadian company?
It’s too soon to measure Péladeau’s impact on the campaign. But this much is sure: He’s certain to drive some trade-union votes from the PQ to Québéc solidaire. He ran lockouts, hired scabs and broke the unions at his Quebec tabloids. Québéc solidaire co-leader Françoise David called his candidacy “a gift.”
The race is now as unpredictable as Péladeau himself.
L. Ian MacDonald is editor of Policy magazine.
