Duceppe “didn’t break the rules”
After all, it seems Gilles Duceppe may not have broken government rules over paying a party apparatchik with public funds. Le Devoir is contradicting the La Presse report here, and Projet J charts the difference in the papers’ interpretation of what happened.
In other Bloc news, party VP Vivian Barbot has quit.
Shawn 21:50 on 2012/01/24 Permalink
It’s unlikely that le Devoir gets the last word on this, obviously. But it gets more interesting: if Duceppe could have been as certain as Le Devoir suggests that he did nothing wrong, why abruptly retire from active life, again, over it?
Chantal Hebert’s TO Star column suggests that he knew elements within the PQ did this to him, and he didn’t have the belly for that fight.
Kate 08:56 on 2012/01/25 Permalink
La Presse is sticking to its story.
Steamboat Willie 08:56 on 2012/01/25 Permalink
One of those other articles on Barbot had some interesting biographical info on her. Can’t remember which though because I read them all just like you.
Shawn 11:03 on 2012/01/25 Permalink
What’s bizarre about the Le Devoir story imo is that it’s not an op-ed piece, but rather, a news story which has as its lead a categorical rejection of the charges, without attribution. It’s the journalists and the paper, I assume, which are dismissing the charges on Duceppe’s behalf, rather than stating in the lead that it’s Bloquistes who are doing so. Anyone else find that lead weird?
Robert J 14:01 on 2012/01/25 Permalink
The level of funding of the Bloc was just so low for so long, and its very nature ensured that party leaders had little incentive to bend the rules because no one was running for government or the executive, so I was surprised to see the allegations, and frankly not surprised to see them rejected.
No matter what your political angle, you have to admit that the bloc was a highly democratic machine, precisely because it could never have formed the government. The power-hungry machinations of other opposition parties were less present even when the bloc was briefly official opposition, because the best Duceppe could hope for was to make the government dissolve.
Shawn 22:27 on 2012/01/25 Permalink
Robert, I don’t understand the logic that simply because the Bloc could never form a government, that are somehow unlikely to bend the rules to advance the separatist cause.
Jack 00:13 on 2012/01/26 Permalink
One of the great things about Le Devoir is the fact that their is no pretense to objectivity. I find that refreshing,the best example is Antoine Robitaille, their Quebec City reporter. His politics are transparent and when you read his copy you know where he stands.I find it more messed up to see Bernard Drainville and Christine St. Pierre’s objectivity at Radio Canada. The Drainville-Boisclair interview when Drainville was negotiating with Boisclair which riding he was going to get is my all time favorite.Le Devoir will defend Duceppe.