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Topsy-turvy Quebec election campaign hinges on gaffes, flood of federal money
Sun Mar 25, 8:25 PM



By Les Perreaux

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MONTREAL (CP) - History, a flood of federal money and the promise of tax cuts could combine to save Jean Charest when Quebecers cast their ballots on Monday.


A couple of those supposed advantages could also sink him instead.


In the topsy-turvy 2007 Quebec election campaign, Charest watched a comfortable lead slip away while Mario Dumont's right-wing, populist Action democratique du Quebec rose from the ashes.


Charest could be the first Quebec premier in 40 years to be denied a second consecutive majority mandate.


Just how low Charest's Liberals will sink and how high Dumont's party will soar are mysteries to be solved Monday.


Parti Quebecois Leader Andre Boisclair exceeded expectations with a steady campaign but gained little popular support. But even if the PQ barely budges from poor 2003 results, Boisclair could win with unpredictable vote splits.

As the campaign began, the ADQ seemed immune to a litany of idiot eruptions among Dumont's unknown candidates.

Dumont fired two of them and might have ditched a few others if the deadline to remove them from ballots had not passed.

Their transgressions ranged from minimizing violence against women to decrying the "ethnics" flooding the province. One turned to the age-old saw of anti-Semitism, blaming Jews for war and profiteering. Another accused Boisclair of taking political advantage of his homosexuality.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/elxn_que_wrap