Cocaine Dreams

André Boisclair remains the frontrunner in the race to elect a new leader of the Parti Québécois. Boisclair admitted he used cocaine in the years during which he was a PQ cabinet minister, between 1996 and 2003.

"What I want to tell you is I made mistakes, things I regret. Yes, I consumed. I can't be clearer than that".

Despite the revelation it apparently has not hurt his chances to take the leadership nor has the fact that he is an openly gay man.

Now, before you dismiss this as a backwater issue, the PQ have held power several times in the last few decades, only being defeated in the last election by the Liberals, and appear to be poised to win again. The worry, of course, is that the PQ remain committed to Québec's separation from Canada and will move on that again. Perhaps that's the culmination of the separatist cocaine dream.

The question remains whether or not wider society within Québec is as tolerant of "non-conformist" behavior as the membership of the PQ. The last leadership debate assiduously avoided Boisclair's drug use, but I can envision what will happen in a knock-down, drag-out election or separatist referendum where the results are too close to call. Negative campaigning in Canada hasn't as yet hit the lows of the US, but it doesn't have far to go.

On the other hand, Boisclair's gayness is a non-issue both within the party and, except on the fringes, within Québec as a whole and so will be unlikely have any influence on either an election or a referendum.