Bernard Landry

Paul Wells explains what’s really behind the PQ’s Values Charter

The former Parti Quebecois premier is unimpressed with Nycole Turmel.

This post last updated at 5:30pm.

Getting a little ahead of ourselves, aren’t we?

“If you aren’t with us, you are an asshole!”

When, in 2001, Bernard Landry referred to the Canadian flag as des bouts de chiffon rouge (‘pieces of red rag’), the entire country was up in arms. Critics on either side of the language barrier were incensed at the then-Deputy Premier’s bon mots, forcing the man himself to apologize.

The latest on the misplaced dossier from the Globe. “Many relatively routine documents get stamped classified inside the government, and some Conservative government figures and bureaucrats were privately skeptical that misplacing an anodyne briefing note, even one with a classified tag, would lead to a minister’s dismissal. Either Mr. Bernier left behind secrets far more sensitive than suggested publicly, they said, or Mr. Harper used a relatively minor incident to axe the minister over repeated gaffes and Ms. Couillard’s embarrassing interview on Quebec television.”