Gilles Wants A Deal

Gilles Duceppe is the kind of Ancient Mariner of the House of Commons.  He moves around constantly, but he seems from another life, another place.  In fact, that’s true.  He represents only his province and, like the other leaders, he manipulates Parliament to benefit his core constituency.  And he's a very able parliamentarian.Duceppe is not nearly as interesting as his caucus or even the complexities of the Bloc’s policies.  It may sound strange, but sitting with Bloc members in the House or on committee has provided me with a sincere appreciation of their sense of social justice. Even on policies such as the environment, gender issues or early learning and childcare, they often tend to trend ahead of other regions.  I am continually inspired by the Bloc’s Nicole Demer – a feminist, but also an advocate for issues that all would assume to be quintessentially Canadian.  She is a champion, as are many in her party, for democratic accountability, a sense of citizen responsibility, and sometimes she and her colleagues are just plain fun in the House.But not Gilles.  He’s more of a spectre than a leader.  It wasn’t too long ago that he quit in order to lead a provincial party, only to hop back into his Common’s seat again when it didn’t seem to work out.  He’s kind of a journeyman, presently occupied with Quebec’s fate in the national capital but who could easily move on if an opportunity were afforded him.  He drifts in and out and his caucus more or less functions around him, and at times in spite of him.He’s doing now what he’s always done, looking for some way to team with some other party – government or opposition – if it garnered extra resources for Quebec.  He was the passive observer, even when seated at the desk as Jack Layton and Stephane Dion announced the coalition.  He would take it if it worked, but if not, well then it was back to Stephen Harper and perhaps coaxing something out of him. And that now seems to be transpiring.  Yesterday in the House he castigated the Prime Minister for his lack of attention to detail on the Employment Insurance file.  But then today, he rounded on the Liberals about EI – a reversal that brought on a round of Conservative applause.  It was obvious that in 24 hours he had switched again.If this Mariner has one great albatross around his neck it is that he is always on the move, permanently in a state of flux.  Parliament is like that at the moment – in suspended animation, with an uncertain future.  It’s hard to plan when one of the key figures can quickly get drafted by one of the other teams.  He wants a deal, and he’ll journey around the House until he finds a suitor.  His transitory nature is compensated by the occasional arrangement that will benefit only one part of the country.  It’s interesting, but only productive for him – and that’s the problem.