Paul | La Presse

During my 14 years of political life at the head of the City of Quebec, I worked with six prime ministers in Quebec and Ottawa, experienced nine provincial and federal elections, and dealt with governments that surely had 150 ministers together.

Good-good-good! That’s really how annoying it gets, retirees like me. Too full of veteran syndrome, they cannot resist the temptation to show you endless statistics to remind you something like: “I lived, me, guys, I lived! »

Even if the number of years is proof of the result! It would be too easy, and examples to the contrary exist, just think of the former mayors of Laval…

OK, too long an introduction to explain to you that I tried to write you a somewhat objective column, but it was a difficult exercise, because I love Pablo Rodriguez. He is one of the nicest and most available politicians I have known, a damn good guy!

However, I must admit my surprise when I learned the rumor concerning his intentions for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ). But I took the time to analyze my astonishment to conclude that Pablo had above all been, in our eyes, an excellent number two.

This is not a prejudice, but a fact of his career. And as I pushed my thinking a little further, I remembered our tendency to always hope for a messiah to lead our governments.

The other evidence is that the era of giant leaders in Quebec is over for a while, until a new, unpredictable trend revalorizes the function. Not for next week…

In this regard, let’s remember that Mr. Legault became a providential man in the aftermath of the COVID epidemic, and see where we are today…

So, Pablo wants to lead the PLQ, and possibly become Prime Minister of Quebec, why not? The maxim “ Nice guys finish last ”, as Green Day sings, does not always inevitably impose itself.

And when we look around us, there are not many political champions in Quebec, and the next generation does not put us in a state of overexcitement, far from it.

Since the announcement of his candidacy, Pablo Rodriguez has already been called a federal agent. We call it a nuclear test, but I think that the expected effect of this formula, once pithy, will go prout-prout-prout! It won’t last long, wobbly for me.

Of course, he will have to answer relevant questions about the actions of Justin Trudeau’s dying government, but he does not lack political skills, Pablo, he has seen snow and has mileage on the clock.

That said, his charisma is to be discovered, if it exists. Although none of the current candidates for the head of the PLQ seems to transcend naturally, apart from old-fashioned gibberish in one case.

Pablo is not a tribune, I don’t remember having ever seen him levitate an audience with an oratory flight. And so, we don’t know if he’s capable of creating emotion without seeming borrowed, and that helps in this job, emotion.

On the other hand, he is capable of being an alley cat in a debate, we saw him in the House of Commons, but he is not a bumlike a former mayor of Quebec… still alive and retired, let’s say…

Now he comes from Montreal, and that’s not as good!

He has a handicap with the general population, in Cap-Chat, for example, but perhaps an advantage in the leadership race where the PLQ membership could be heavily concentrated in the metropolis or surrounding areas.

This admitted fault: he knows regional Quebec like the back of his hand, and I don’t think he needs a GPS to get to Ville-Marie in Témiscamingue.

But if I were him, I would really be friends with the liberal MP Marwah Rizqy, who also welcomed his candidacy. Hoping that they match, a good political combo, it seems to me, an electoral ticket, like in the USA.

This woman has the passion that Pablo perhaps lacks, a studious person who knows the files, which helps when you come from Ottawa. And although he is handsome and plays the guitar, he remains a binary bearded man.

Obviously, his arrival made some people panic, and rightly so. And contrary to what Denis Coderre claims, the “ timing » is excellent.

It would not take many additional French-speaking votes in favor of the Liberals to change the political situation in the next elections in Quebec. And the first target will be that of the federalists of the CAQ.

Yes, Pablo is a federalist, is anyone surprised?

We don’t have to agree, but the difference in his case is his ability to talk about it calmly in terms of attachments to his country, instead of calling his opponents “separatisssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss” “. Just the change in tone would do some good, and could create more support.

Yeah…really! The more I think about it, the more I imagine it well, the tandem. “Pablo and Marwah” on the Quebec political scene!

Because we, Quebec voters, want the widest possible range of political choices, and that is why the arrival of Pablo Rodriguez is good news.

What do you think? Participate in the dialogue