I am a political junkie, I admit it. Even though I live in Ontario, I do a lot of work in Quebec so I follow the political comings and goings quite a bit. I first learned of the ADQ in high school during the Quebec sovereignty referendum in ’95 and treated them with a bit of distain. After all, the ADQ sided with the Bloq and PQ on the Yes side. After a number of years and the mellowing out of Mario Dumont (ADQ Leader), I started quietly rooting for them in elections. They were the third option for Quebecers, not the PQ and not the Liberals, they were the underdog, and I like underdogs. When they formed the official opposition in Quebec, I thought that was great, like cheering for the Ontario NDP in 1990; They didn’t have a chance but pulled off a ‘hail-mary’.
In hindsight, the election of Bob Rae’s NDP to Ontario was probably the worst thing to happen to the province, second worst being Dalton McNutty. Back to Quebec, once the ADQ became the official opposition (do they call it “Her Majesty’s Loyal”?) they fell apart, didn’t know what to do. There were so many rookies that the ADQ MNAs looked like a bunch of two-year olds organizing a daycare!!! After getting spanked the next election, Mario Dumont left the ADQ to do TV shows spoofing off his image.
The fall-out has been something else to watch. Two “nobodys” run for leader, the winner is chosen by a vote that people call out the possibility of election fraud. Then finger pointing between the ADQ and the Reformatories’ Quebec wing and one of their senators over fundraising money. Then the ADQ “cut ties” with the Reformatories saying that they wanted independence. Following that, the fingers get pointed back to the ADQ about missing money and now, their newly-minted leader quits with a napkin written resignation. And off they implode.
With “Stellar” people-power replacing Mario Dumont, it’s appears very fortunate that Quebec never got an ADQ government. Imagine what would have happened in Quebec City if they had their hands on the public purse! You’d think it was the second coming of the Montreal City Government!
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