PQ leadership front-runner André Boisclair spoke to a jam-packed hall of about 500 students at Laval University today. I was surprised because it was obvious that a fair number in attendance were not separatists, like myself, who had just come to see Boisclair in action. It was my third time seeing him speak live, and by far the worst.
Maybe he was just tired, but he didn't excite the crowd in any way at all. It was almost like he forgot his frothing-at-the-mouth separatist-young-and-eager crowd speech at home and brought with him his Gaspé Chamber of Commerce speech instead. He barely touched on youth issues at all. He kept talking about how he had "values" but never really said what they were. He railed against Ottawa, the fiscal imbalance, the Charest government and the "imperialist American giant" (his words).
It is obvious this man has a staggering level of support among young francophone Quebecers. He's sort of like a Quebec Ralph Nader. It is also obvious that the recent cocaine revelations did nothing to affect his popularity. But if the man I saw today is the André Boisclair that is going to lead Quebec into the next referendum, we can sleep a little better tonight.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 12:49 AM
