Or He Could Do Both

John Ibbitson (apparently this is my week to pick on him) set up a false dichotomy in Wednesday's paper (subscription required):

"Mr. Dumont could use his new power to prod Liberal Premier Jean Charest into revolutionizing Quebec's economy, or he could drag Quebec society back toward its dark past."

So in Ibbitson's mind, this is an either/or proposition. Either Dumont will weaken Quebec's unions and attempt to increase economic competitiveness or he will attempt to return the province to the parochial vision of Maurice Duplessis.

It may come as a surprise to someone who hasn't studied politics ever, but many right-wing politicians have managed to package free market reforms, social conservatism and parochial nationalism into a single package. I see no indication that Dumont would somehow feel bound to choose between economic policy and social policy.

To put it another way, I hardly think that Dumont feels the need to choose between the parts of his platform that Ibbitson likes (economic reforms) and those that he does not like (social reforms) in order to allow Ibbitson to more easily characterize Dumont as "good" or "bad" for Quebec.
Picture: Maurice Duplessis