As we watch the dust settling in the Parti Québécois and Bloc Québécois musical chairs, here's what's clear so far:

The PQ has brought in the 'B' Team. Pauline Marois has been rejected twice by the party militants because, presumably, she didn't have the stuff to be party chief and lead the troops to the promised land. Suddenly she does.

Second, the Bloc will continue to be led by someone who the polls say can't win in Quebec. This was the deciding moment in Gilles Duceppe's realization that he had made a horrible mistake: he took a look at the polls.

Most politicians study polls carefully before a decision. Duceppe felt so plugged into Quebec, he didn't need the polls. Or so he thought, until he read them. They gave Duceppe a distant second -- among sovereigntists. Just the person to lead Quebec's lobby in Ottawa.

Third, as screwy as politicans may be in Montreal and Ottawa, here in West Quebec things are different.

We have Philippe Boucher, head of the PQ's regional council. This is a man of principle with a keen political nose. In the last PQ leadership race, he supported Andre Boisclair against Pauline Mariois. We need a new face, a young leader, he told the media. When Duceppe offered himself as the new archbishop of independence, Boucher, without consulting his party, publicly offered his organization's support to Duceppe. As reassuring as these observations may be for federalists, they do not capture the nuances of Quebec's electoral labyrinth. These nuances are not reassuring and they are important.

Duceppe's emphasis on his emotions in making the decision was a brilliant move. Canadians love emotions. Since we feel most politicians are heartless crooks, when one shows an excess of heart -- hey! Plus Duceppe took the blame himself. That's new in politics.

Duceppe can paint this adventure as proof he is such a Quebecer that he threw everything aside at the first chance to return to the motherland. Never mind that he had rejected the PQ's offer once before, here's a guy who loves Quebec, and nothing else matters.

Lastly, Marois now has a free hand to reform the PQ. She wouldn't have had this option had she earlier beaten Boisclair. The party's rigidity is part of what defeated Boisclair. Putting the referendum aside is a wise move.

All Quebecers can now vote for "Quebec-ness" (the PQ) without ever having to commit to anything at all. Brilliant!

Duceppe, however, might suffer since the Bloc also has to be shaken up. It is much too authoritarian, which is stifling the growth of future leaders. Duceppe is back in the saddle mainly because there's no one to step into his shoes. Can he, will he, open the party up?

Interesting times; stay tuned.

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Copyright © 2007 Fred Ryan/Log Cabin Chronicles/05.07