Here come the promises

Add to that the large-format posters on wooden frames in vacant lots and street corners, the array of pamphlets, newspaper ads and TV spots, and you have a well-aimed, multi-media blitz of repeated images designed to seduce all undecided voters, soft sovereignists and angry demerged taxpayers. Image is everything; the issues themselves come a distant second in this race. Vote for me, everyone is saying, and all your problems will be solved. Quebec will be a much better place if you support me and my (insert name here) party!

The next month will be filled with promises, some sensible, others outlandish. But if recent history has taught us anything, a promise certainly isn't what it used to be—especially in Quebec.

The Charest Liberals have ensured the longest possible campaign by starting early; signs for some candidates—including Westmount's incumbent MNA Jacques Chagnon—were up in the riding a day before Premier Charest officially called the election yesterday. Although no one really believes Mr. Chagnon can possibly lose in this riding, despite widespread anger towards his party over the Montreal Agglomeration issue, he has never been one to take his constituents for granted and his seasoned staff has begun a campaign that promises to be just as thorough and diligent as any in a heavily contested riding. As he has done in past elections, the candidate himself will probably be spending much of the next month in other ridings across the province, lending a hand to fellow Liberals in races that are considered much less 'safe' than the one in Westmount-St. Louis. Still, you can be sure he will be with us the whole time, smiling down from nearly every pole in the riding.

The Parti Québécois has also jumped out of the starting gate, announcing most, if not all, of its candidates this week. Now all eyes are fixed expectantly on the ADQ, the third-place party whose leader has been making the most promises of all as part of an agree-to-everything policy.

Fasten your seat belts, folks.