“If we lose, we can expect criticism.”
“And if we win,” he added confidently, “people will say we had intuition.”
It was difficult to choose ministers among the seventy-one PQ members elected November 15. Lévesque would make some jealous and he warned those most in a hurry: his nominations were not cast in stone. In the Eastern Townships, where he had gone to escape for a few days, he said he would begin the never-ending task that was choosing a cabinet.
First, a list of the most likely names: Jacques Parizeau for Finance. What about Jacques-Yvan Morin for Culture? He tore up the piece of paper and began again. Then he remembered Robert Bourassa’s advice. While playing at designating future PQ ministers, the Liberal leader had noted, “Monsieur Lévesque, you would be better off having so-and-so in your cabinet rather than outside it.” He was right. The PQ leader worked on tirelessly, then went back to square one, determined this time to get it right.
During his sixteen years in politics, René Lévesque had known ups and downs. In September, for example, he had considered throwing in the towel. But Claude Charron’s interview in Le Devoir had galvanized him. Being called a “little old man” and “dead wood” at age fifty-four was hard to swallow! Should he resign, make way for new blood? No! Retiring was out of the question. The Parti Québécois had to remain true to the commitments it had made at the last convention. Swinging too radically to the left was out of the question. The “little old man” was resilient. He ordered the discontented: “Leave! Go found your own party!” Everything could have fallen apart at that point. But luck had it that Robert Bourassa, banking on the excitement of the Olympics, prematurely called the election for November 15.
His list completed, Lévesque met with each new minister. Jacques Parizeau was awarded the “triple crown”: Minister of Finance, President of the Treasury Board, and Minister of Revenue. He thus held the most important position in the PQ cabinet. Jean Garon, named Minister of Agriculture, at first considered refusing. He was informed he would end up regretting it: Lévesque never forgot an insult and especially disliked being opposed. The PQ leader was soon to offer Claude Charron, who had openly opposed his leadership at the Handfield Inn, the Department of Youth and Sport – with the problem of the Olympic deficit as a bonus! This was a hot potato in the hands of the young rebel who had opposed the leader. And Lévesque named Lise Payette, who had hoped for Culture, as Minister of the Department of Consumer Affairs, Cooperatives, and Financial Institutions. Not very original, the only woman appointed to caucus told herself. A woman in the Liberal government had held the same position just before her!
“I didn’t recruit people from the world of finance,” René Lévesque proudly pointed out, emphasizing the contrast with economist Robert Bourassa’s former Liberal government.
Complex J building of the Grande-Allée in Quebec City was aptly called “the bunker.” The elevator went right up to the cabinet room. Windowless, its walls covered in carpet, this softly lit strongroom looked like a flying saucer. Smack in the middle, an impressive horseshoe-shaped table dominated the entire room. “It looks like Dr. Strangelove’s war room,” remarked Lise Payette. “It feels as if we’re isolated in a space capsule,” added Lévesque. Before the opening of the first PQ Parliament, set for December 14, the meetings were like family get-togethers. People were becoming acquainted, sizing each other up. One, rather casual, removed his socks under the table; another grumbled constantly, contradicting everyone. All were on guard: they could not allow a colleague to eat into the slightest piece of their territory. It was a male chauvinist environment characterized by starchy ritual. On each side of the premier, in alphabetical order, alternating, the ministers sat properly in the seat designated by a card. The school of British parliamentarism was strict and disciplined. This first PQ cabinet was learning the ropes, and the students were well behaved. The most unruly waited until later before making themselves heard. René Lévesque had a moderating effect on the zealots: the people had voted against the Liberals, not for the PQ. Linguistic battles, the Olympic deficit, and the wear and tear of power had gotten the better of the Bourassa government. “We will try to learn from the errors of our predecessors.” René Lévesque was especially fond of one project among several and kept returning to it: “We will give Quebecers a code of ethics in voting practices.” Enough favouritism and insidious patronage. Any gift over twenty-five dollars had to be returned. Holding interest in companies doing business with the State was out of the question. People who had shares in the stock market had sixty days to dispose of them. Looking hard at each cabinet minister, Lévesque concluded:
“And if I ever catch one of you bribing anybody, I’ll blow the whistle on you immediately!”
“Cancelling is out of the question. Yes, I’ll be there.” As planned, Lévesque went to the federal-provincial conference set before the election. “Deep down,” he said to those close to him, “I want people to know that I do not want to destroy Canada. I am going to Ottawa in good faith, even though I think it’s a waste of time.” From the first day on, the Quebec delegation was questioned by journalists who hoped at every turn for confrontations between the separatist and the federalist. Lévesque versus Trudeau, the bitter rivals, as they liked to call them. For the prime minister of Canada, the PQ victory was practically a personal defeat. Now, making the best of things, he predicted the Péquiste government would not be able to hold on to power following the November 15 victory.
René Lévesque learned a tough lesson at this first meeting with his counterparts from other provinces. Against all expectations, seven provinces chose to penalize themselves by agreeing to two income tax points instead of four. To journalists seeking his impressions, Lévesque conceded that the inter-provincial alliance was a trap. “The others chose to let us down, even at the risk of losing millions from the federal government.” Lévesque returned from Ottawa disappointed, convinced more than ever that sovereignty was the best solution for Quebec.
He set aside political quarrels and spoke of the upcoming vacation he would take with Corinne Côté. Yielding to his companions insistent demands, he was going out openly with her.
“You’re not afraid what people will say?” a friend asked him. “After all, you’re still not divorced.”
René Lévesque didn’t worry about his reputation as a skirt chaser. He was uninfluenced by scruples, hated moralizing and worrying about gossip. Being premier would not change his attitude. He loved Corinne, whom he had met eight years earlier at the launch of his book Option Québec (An Option for Quebec). Among the guests jockeying for autographs, he had noticed a young Laval University student originally from Alma. Born into a Quebec nationalist family, Corinne Côté admired René Lévesque. He had left a well-established political party to begin a thrilling adventure, not knowing whether his courageous move held a future. Among the people congratulating him, Lévesque was entranced by the dark eyes of this woman twenty years his junior. The seducer was seduced. “Call me,” he had written to her after seeing her again at a dinner with friends. What began as a fling, little by little developed into a love affair spanning nearly twenty years. He who had never let himself fall victim to love was now contemplating splitting up with his wife Louise. He would be the first Quebec head of state to divorce. And he didn’t give a hoot about the gossip.
To be witty or provoke people, René Lévesque considered himself a Yankeebécois. He liked the U.S., was fascinated by its history, its people, its geography.