Following the link below, you can find a translation of an article by Mr. Facal published today in the Journal de Montréal:
https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2020/05/07/trudeau-legault-vous-et-moi
“Since the beginning of this crisis, I defend François Legault, but I have severely criticized Justin Trudeau.
Readers have asked me why the latter is not entitled to the same indulgence as the former.
It’s an honest question that deserves an honest answer.
Easier
If I am more severe with Trudeau, it is not, as readers believe, because I am a sovereignist.
Legault, after all, has turned his back on the cause. So why?
Serious cinephiles may be familiar with an old Stanley Kubrick film entitled Paths of Glory (1957).
The plot matters little.
Suffice to say that, during World War I, Colonel Dax was in the trenches with his men.
Whenever the order to attack was given, he came out of his hole and charged with them.
Bullets whistled. His men fell like flies around him.
Meanwhile, far, far, far from the front, well sheltered in their headquarters, Generals Broulard and Mireau sip champagne while dreaming of glory, medals, and promotions.
I use the film allegorically, you will understand, not to be taken at face value.
Legault and the premiers are in the trenches. They are the ones who receive the bullets.
Hospitals, CHSLDs [long-term care centres], daycares, schools, the decision to close or reopen businesses, to close or not regions, to give us instructions to stay at home or not, to wear a mask or not, all this are decisions of provincial governments.
The sharing of responsibilities is like that in many federations.
In the United States too, while Trump invents his science every day, the governors are at the front.
Does Legault make mistakes? Obviously. As he said on Tuesday, there is no operations manual.
His best reflex was to have grasped the gravity of the situation from the start and acted quickly with the means he had. Not Trudeau.
I was talking about constitutional responsibilities.
Trudeau was responsible for border control and for travelers arriving here.
He was the last in the country to accept that everything had to be closed. How many infected people have returned who have infected others?
Then, at Easter, while you and I were locked up by obligation, he left for the cottage with a wife and children.
But he was kind enough, it’s true, to share beautiful selfies with us.
He then caught up, you say, by spending without counting.
Yes, but it’s our money, our debt, and signing checks is easy.
Fault?
I will be told, if we want to compare equivalent jurisdictions, that Legault does not deserve congratulations since there are more deaths here than in other provinces.
Remember that more than 70% of COVID-19 deaths in Québec took place in residences for the elderly.
However, more than half of the elderly who, in Canada, live in these institutions, neglected for ages, are in Québec.
Legault’s fault?”
