Bellemare = Myriam Bédard, et conséquences

Lagacé says what needs to be said. Bellemare's accusations are extremely doubtful. I'd add that Charest didn't get through his tumultuous political career unblemished by behaving this way. The problem is whatever difficulties Bellemare had and is having, on a personal basis, and however questionable his own behaviour, he is all the same a former Attorney General, and so even if he is a fantasist, as I suspect, his words will have weight among the public, especially in QC with the constant vicious anti-federalist, anti-Liberal, anti-Charest folks, who are well-established and don't lack for outlets for their frustrations, and whom are always ready to believe the worst of all politicians, but particularly Charest, federalists & the PLQ. We are talking about a significant part of the population, including supposed elites, who have a compulsion to call JC "John" Charest, as a (secret) anglophone, really, who's hiding his true evil face, as that might or might not be the name his mother wrote on his birth certificate, despite having been known as "Jean" his whole life. I mean that very supposed epithet is based on the assumption, so obvious to all these folks it doesn't need saying, that to be an anglo is to be wrong, bad, evil, it is to be illegitimate. I mean that's plain bigotry, what in French is covered by catch-all "racisme", and this is just accepted as part of the discourse. Try to imagine that, and the kind of people, and their psychology, that leads them to write and say such things. I mean, this is not just common to every comment board and talk show but many columnists and commentators, authors, etc.. Before he leaves QC politics, Charest should make a "Oui ma mère m'appela John" speech, like Trudeau's.

The whole Bellemare thing is sickening, in so many ways, for all of us. Even if he is a fantasist, this gives more munitions to those who want as broad-ranging an inquiry as possible into basically all possible PLQ failings. Even if one was held, supposedly to clear the air, and even if it is shown that Charest etc. were all clean as clean be, you're always going to find something, in every organisation but particularly every political party, given the incentives and interests of hangers-on and business etc., there's ALWAYS something noxious. The faux angelic PQ has itself been convicted of similar accusations, and not long ago. I guarantee one could investigate every major political party, anywhere in Canada, and find something wrong. It's inevitable. But it doesn't matter how innocent and honest the principals are, once the accusations are made, and some hangers-on etc. are found to have misbehaved, the stink stays, since people don't pay attention to the details. Who knows better than the LPC? Pelletier? Chrétien? Martin? And they're no angels, but the stuff people said, crikey! What Bellemare has said can never be unsaid, however false and wrong, and poisons the well for all, as well as usually engendering reforms that are partly smart and partly stupid and counterproductive. Always been the case, always will be.

There will also be counterintuitive policy and political consequences. Charest and the PLQ, accused of being crooked, far from backing down on health taxes to gain popularity, are much more likely to hang tough on budget and reforms now, just to show that they are men of principle - the worse the mud-slinging, the more they'll stick by their plans. They know that the PLQ has time to recover before the next elections, after policy arguments, but not if seen as corrupt, so one perverse effect of Bellemare's behaviour is to make the bad health taxes more likely, "envers et contre tous", to make people say, "they may be wrong, but that's not the behaviour of self-interested crooks".

A further counterintuitive political consequence is the PLQ core is likely to rally around the flag. I feel the same way. As I've said, much as I disagree with Charest's socio-economic philosophy, I like and even admire him, as a man, and seeing Bellemare's probable fantasies whipped up by the aforementioned sickos makes Charest & the PLQ more sympathetic to me, and others.

So there's really very little good news to report. Odds are that the PLQ, QC-Cdn politics and society are in for ugliness, based on fantasies, which no-one will remember in time. Because it's the PLQ involved, the sickos will find a way to rope in federalism, Canada, etc., and we could be in for some rough times after the PQ wins, a few years from now (strangely, the PQ financing scandals weren't seen to discredit the separatist project - hmmm). In the meantime, the sickos will play on whole anti-Charest/PLQ meme to advance their bigoted agendas on language and "identity", ie., beat up on the minorities. And Charest & the PLQ are more likely to keep worst elements of budget and other plans intact, as core rallies around the flag and they defend their reputations. No winners here, except for the forces of darkness and intolerance.

The only possible exception is if Charest goes on the attack, especially as the wave of anti-"John" Charest bigotry builds, and goes right after the slanderers and bigots, as Trudeau did. People have been getting away with this shit for far too long, and everyone respects a man who fights his corner, politically, and fights for tolerance and his family's honour, personally and ethically.