The loneliness of Jean Charest

WHEN earlier this month Jean Charest, Quebec’s premier, appeared on a popular talk show he was in solemn mood. Yet even he had to laugh when he almost called the “construction industry” the “corruption industry”. It was a Freudian slip: it is Mr Charest’s dogged refusal to bow to widespread demands for a public inquiry into claims of bid-rigging and kickbacks involving developers and politicians that has sunk public support for his Liberal government to rock bottom and prompted mounting calls for him to quit.

Mr Charest has a good argument for leaving the investigation to the police. For more than a year they have been looking into alleged abuses in public-works contracts; a public inquiry would have to grant immunity to witnesses who might otherwise be charged. But there is another reason for the premier’s intransigence. In 2004 Paul Martin, then Canada’s prime minister, called an inquiry into allegations of corruption in federal advertising spending in Quebec. Its hearings led to the defeat of his government, and severely damaged the federal Liberal party in the province.

Mr Charest’s bet seems to be that the police investigation, recently boosted with extra funds, will break down the silence of the construction firms implicated in bid-rigging. Two of the big ones this month pleaded guilty to tax evasion. The government has passed new laws to tighten political financing, and is contemplating a new, permanent anti-corruption agency. The premier has even taken a 30% pay cut by agreeing to give up a top-up salary provided by the Liberal party.

Mr Charest is a survivor: in power since 2003, he is in his third term, has a narrow majority in the legislature and three years left of his mandate. There is no sign of a revolt among his Liberal caucus. Obscured by all the talk of corruption is a bright economic picture—better than that in neighbouring Ontario, which has higher unemployment. And optimists claim that Quebec is no more corrupt than the rest of Canada, but rather that its media is better at ferreting out wrongdoing.

If the premier is forced out, his departure would echo across Canada. The Liberals are the only federalist party in the province. The others, led by the Parti Québécois, all lean towards separatism. On Mr Charest’s watch, fear of Canada’s disintegration has faded. It may revive unless he cleans up the corruption industry.