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Dumont wows Toronto

Action Démocratique du Québec leader Mario Dumont yesterday left a Bay St. audience glowing as he soft-pedaled his party's long-term vision of a massively decentralized Canada and said that under his watch Quebec would resume its role as a proactive player in the federation.

Dumont stood politely in front of a massive Canadian flag and raised his glass "to Canada," as is done before luncheons of the highly conservative but very Canadian Canadian Club yesterday before delivering his first major speech outside Quebec.

He played the crowd of 250 masterfully, going long on his small-c conservative agenda - everything from cutting Quebec's debt and taxes to reducing top-heavy government - but short on the constitutional beefs that led to the formation of the very party he leads.

Dumont was his ambiguous best on this front, so good the crowd was gushing on the way out, admitting they were impressed by him - described here as a fresh face from Quebec - but as befuddled about what he represents as many Quebecers are when they hear the 32-year-old leader speak. Some said it didn't matter because he's, well, new and refreshing.

Dumont's one reference to the irksome constitutional issue was tucked in at the end of his 30-minute speech, and it was simply to say the issue is not on the ADQ radar screen and for good reason.

"We already have a full plate in order to put Quebec back on the way to prosperity," Dumont said. "We are now asking Quebecers to think outside the box.

"An ADQ government would not follow an empty-chair policy at federally sponsored venues. We won't be mute participants, voiceless observers in the various forums of the Canadian political system. We will be active, dynamic, creative participants. Quebec will resume its historical role as a proactive player."

The Quebec media quickly pounced on Dumont for not once uttering the word "decentralization" as his recipe for Canada, as stated in the ADQ program.

But it did not seem to matter to the crowd.

Many still remember former premier Jacques Parizeau's bitter 1994 speech in Toronto in which he said the relationship between Quebec and Canada is like a never-ending trip to the dentist.

"Quebec wants more powers, more autonomy - you never say yes, and the drilling doesn't stop," Parizeau said then.

In contrast, Dumont was perceived as competitive but conciliatory.

Toronto lawyer Andy Ayotte said Dumont is "clearly trying to get Quebec on a proper footing first and that's the right way to go."

Paul O'Brien of RBC Dominion Securities said Dumont "purposely did not want to speak of some issues that are normally spoken of and . . . about economics and what people would like to see happen in Quebec."

Another unidentified participant said "it's a new start for the province and Canada," before fleeing the cameras.

"We've been debating this for 30 years," added Tom Long, an adviser to former premier Mike Harris and defeated candidate for the Canadian Alliance leadership who was on hand for the speech. "I actually think he's made a very deliberate choice, and I welcome it and I know a lot of people in this room find it very hopeful."

"I was here for the Parizeau speech, and the contrast is very dramatic. This was an optimistic, upbeat speech that talked about widening hope, and Parizeau was very skilled but gave us a very pessimistic message."

Even former prime minister John Turner, a member of the blue-chip club, waded in to describe Dumont as a logical man.

"He wants to renew the Quebec state, free the population and find the Quebec capacity," Turner said. "He said to the others we will be solid partners but ferocious competitors. For me, he expresses himself like a new generation. He wants to renew the framework, remobilize youth, so I think his message was very interesting."

Asked if he didn't find Dumont played his cards close to his chest, Turner said with admiration in his voice: "This suffices for the moment. After all, he has to win the election."

Two lawyers from the same firm were confused about where Dumont is going.

"I think he's deferred the issue (of sovereignty)," Charlotte Haber said. "He's saying, 'I don't want to deal with that now; I don't think the province should deal with it now; when Quebec is stronger we'll deal with it.' Would he then go for sovereignty, probably? I think so."

"I think he's coming across as trying to allay the fears of the rest of Canada as a federalist," her colleague Eric Bornstein added. "I thought he wants to build that province as a strong province and the only way to do it - and maybe he believes it also - is within a federal relationship."

Later, Dumont gave no ground, even under the grilling of Toronto reporters, who turned out in force to meet him.

Dumont argued he was quite clear on what an ADQ government would mean for Ontario: an aggressive competitor.

He denied dropping the word decentralization from his vocabulary, noting he did not have to address every piece of his program in the speech.

"We're abandoning nothing," Dumont said. "As we get closer to an election, what we say - and it is becoming clearer - is that people who vote ADQ are not jumping into parties that will put the constitutional issue at the top of the priority list. They are expressing confidence in a party that will turn the page on a political approach."

"Some people asked me on the way out, 'Is he a federalist or a separatist?' " one Toronto reporter said to Dumont.

"Those two sweaters were worn by political parties who fought over the last decade in Quebec," Dumont replied. "It's precisely what we want to turn the page on, and the people who vote for us exactly want to remove those sweaters and work on a brand-new agenda."

"What's the name on the front of your sweater?" the reporter asked.

"ADQ," Dumont replied, laughing.

Masterfully tailored to the audience to make him sound like a premier in waiting, Dumont might have been vague on the constitution, but he spoke with unusual clarity about his small-c conservative agenda, one that he does not discuss much at home these days.

Dumont said he is for a flat tax in Quebec, a significantly reduced government bureaucracy, greater self-reliance, less of "the-state-will-provide philosophy," freedom of choice on child care and tackling the provincial debt.

He had one new line on health, which was to say Quebec spends all the money it wants on unessential medical equipment "but we are not allowed to pay extra to help our mother get a faster hip replacement."

And in an earlier interview on CBC Newsworld, Dumont referred to the PQ government's plan to force doctors into regions as a "Soviet-like plan."

As for stimulating the Quebec economy, which Dumont said frankly pales in comparison with others in North America, he stole a line from Mike Harris. Quebec, he said, is open for business. He issued a little threat to Ontario's business community, too.

"We made it too easy for Ontario for too long," Dumont said as the crowd chuckled. "Ontario will no longer be able to count on Quebec's own tax structure, on our own bureaucracy, to win the race to prosperity.

"I'll stop there. You get the idea."

pauthier@thegazette.southam.ca