ELECTI0NS 2012 IN UNITED STATES -

By Bernard Bujold (LeStudio1.com) - 
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton would have allowed Barack Obama to win the next election to Mitt Romney through an electrifying speech delivered yesterday Wednesday, September 5, 2012 to the Convention of the Democratic Party. A speech that impressed all observers. It is even said that the speech will cause a turning point in the fight for the presidency. Former President Clinton (66 years) currently have an popularity index of 69% among Americans which is huge and even more than when he was President. We'll see tonight Thursday the President Obama's (51 years) speech in accepting the Democratic nomination. His challenge (during speech) will be to be as unifying as was Clinton last night. To be continued... 
Photo 1 and 2: Bill Clinton;
Photo 3: Barack Obama and Bill Clinton;
See text The Wall Street Journal ; 
See text The New York Times ;

JEAN CHAREST IS GONE...

By Bernard Bujold (LeStudio1.com) - 
Jean Charest has turned the page and he resigned from his position as head of the Quebec Liberal Party. The date of September 4, 2012 therefore will correspond in history to his personal defeat in the county of Sherbrooke and defeat as Premier of Quebec (in addition to becoming the date of the tragedy at Metropolis), but this date is also his first electoral victory in 1984 under the colors of Brian Mulroney. I am convinced that Charest had chosen the date of the elections of 2012, taking into account the significance of the date in 1984. 
Jean Charest (54 years) has always professed a deep admiration for Mulroney, who was his political mentor, as mine also. In the case of Charest, he followed in the footsteps of his master while, I've changed course and drifted elsewhere... 
Jean Charest in 1984 dreamed of one day being the Prime Minister of Canada when he would be older. He came close, but he never realized his dream and becomes instead Premier of Quebec, a kind of second choice for him. Charest hold an Irish personality, like her mother, and he is very endearing with his family and friends. In 1984, he was very popular amongst the Conservative Party environment in Ottawa and he had a great sense of humor. 
The question that arises: what will happen to his future from now? To be continued... 
Photo 1: Michèle Dionne and Jean Charest;
Photo 2: Brian Mulroney and Mila (Baie Comeau September 4, 1984 by Bernard Bujold);
Photo 3: Bernard Bujold (Ottawa 1984)  ;
See biography Jean Charest;

QUEBEC ELECTION 2012 - RESULTS

By Bernard Bujold (LeStudio1.com) - 
Pauline Marois is the new Prime Minister of Québec but with only 54 MPs out of 125 against 50 for the Liberals, 19 for the Coalition (CAQ) and the election of Amir Khadir and Françoise David, this will make that the new government will be almost impossible to manage. 
However, it is the murder by a gunman of a sound technician at Métropolitis where Marois delivered her victory speech that holds the attention. The victim would had tried to prevent an attempted attack on Marois. The situation is somewhat tragic and very disturbing... 
The news of the deadly attack has toured the world in the media. To be continued...
Photo 1: Pauline Marois;
Photo 2: Shooter;
Photo 3 and 4: National Assembly of Quebec;
See story Le Journal de Montreal ; 
See story La Presse ; 
See story The Gazette ;

MONTREAL WORLD FILM FESTIVAL 2012 (Closing Ceremony)

By Bernard Bujold - LeStudio1.com -
The 36th Montreal World Film Festival 2012 was held successfully and the closing ceremony allowed to know the winners of the best films shown (see link to the complete list of results in the photo album). 
According to tradition, the President Serge Losique announced the dates of the next WFF festival, the 37th, which will take place from 22 August to 2 September 2013. 
Picture 1,2,3 and 4; MONTREAL World Film Festival 2012;
See photo album LeStudio1.com ;

QUEBEC ELECTION 2012 - Students candidates...

Bernard Bujold (LeStudio1.com) - The election of tomorrow Tuesday, September 4, should have been the one of Quebec students and even though the campaign was far from the topic, there are 124 male candidates and 47 female candidates aged between 18 and 29 years (171 in total). The average age of all 892 candidates is 44 years. Among those young star candidates we notice Léo Bureau Blouin in Laval-des-Rapides (20 years) and the youngest of all the candidates, Stephen Collins in Ste-Marie-St-Jacques, 19 years old only! 
The site of Chief Electoral Officer show several very interesting statistics and information on the candidates in this election. 
Regarding the age of the leaders: Jean Charest 54 years; Pauline Marois 63 years; François Legault 55 years; and Françoise David 64 years (Amir Khadir 51 years). 
Remember that there are 125 parliamentary seats to be filled and the majority wanted by the parties is at least 63 posts ... Have a good vote!
Photo 1: Léo Bureau-Blouin;
Photo 2: Stephen Collins;
See site Chief Electoral Officer ;

QUEBEC ELECTION 2012 - The magic of Jean Charest or the harsh reality...

By Bernard Bujold (LeStudio1.com) - According to the latest survey by Friday, August 30th, by Léger and Léger and published in Le Journal de Montreal, the next government would be led by Pauline Marois of the Parti Québécois with just 63 members and 33% of votes while François Legault is second with 28% of votes and Jean Charest third with 27% of votes. The National Assembly of Quebec have a total of 125 parliamentary seats. 
But the real question: will we see a total surprise with a magic trick by Jean Charest or another party leader? Everything is possible because popular sentiment is completely divided between all large parties. If the party of Françoise David was more consistent, there is even reason to believe about her election as majority leader as she is the only one that all Quebecers admire but that very few recognize the strength of her party. 
The surprise would be the breakdown of voting for a party but there is every reason to believe that we will see rather a situation like 40 members average for each of the three major parties. That will create a dramatic result because nobody will actually head the Quebec government. This is the conclusion of Conrad Black in the National Post. The only solution if this result happen would be another election. 
According to me, ideally, one could argue that the best leader for Quebec is Jean Charest but his team is disappointing; Pauline Marois team is impressive but the chief make people worried about her real leadership on the PQ members; the team of François Legault as well as its chief are definitely too far right and extreme for the type of personality of Quebecers. For whom I will vote Sept. 4: I do not know yet and I will decide in the voting booth on election day, as well as several other Quebecers, even those who say they are already decided. And this is where the whole problem lies in this election which will be decided on a crapshoot on election day. 
Nothing will really be determined before the counting of votes on the evening of September 4, 2012 and this is a dangerous situation because anything can happen, even nonsense... This is also called the harsh reality! Stay tuned!
Photo 1: The outgoing Prime Minister Jean Charest;
Photo 2: The Parti Québécois leader Pauline Marois;
Photo 3: The future leader of the Coalition Québec, François Legault;
View Poll Le Journal de Montreal ; 
See analysis by Conrad Black - The National Post ;

REVOLT IN TUNISIA and QUEBEC - World Film Festival of Montreal 2012 -

By Bernard Bujold (LeStudio1.com) - 
The documentary film DEGAGE presented at the Montreal World Film Festival by Tunisian director Mohamed Zran about the Arab Spring and the Tunisian revolt is a great movie that you can make a direct link with the student revolt and the elections of September 2012 in Quebec. 
In Tunisia, the people rebelled against the government of Ben Ali while Quebec students opposed to Prime Minister Jean Charest. In both cases, Tunisia and Quebec, activists demanded the departure of government in place, but the people were divided between those in power or change, and in the center, the police as an arbitrator using violence. 
The revolt in Tunisia was on job creation, but the democratic elections of October 2011 were held on the subject instead of religion and secularism in society. The Quebec election was called by the social debate on tuition fees, but the election campaign was conducted rather on other themes almost ignoring the students. There was election of a new government in Tunisia but economic problems have not been resolved. Here in Quebec we have to see the results of the September 4, but it is likely that the student crisis will not be resolved even with a new government and after a revolution... Stay tuned! 
***
Another captivating film presented at the WFF: 7 Days in Havana. This film on Cuba, a country which is historic and universal symbol of the revolution, presents a philosophical perspective on the life of its inhabitants. The film includes seven short stories, each with conclusion that often personal dreams are hard to reach and once reached, the satisfaction is not always there. A must see also for the beautiful pictures of Cuba. 
The World Film Festival continues through Monday, September 3. 
Photo 1: Movie Poster: Degage;
Photo 2: Movie Poster: 7 Days in Havana;
See movie site DEGAGE ; 
See movie site 7 DAYS in Havana  ;

LIV ULLMANN at the Montreal World Film Festival 2012.

By Bernard Bujold (LeStudio1.com) - The internationally acclaimed actress, Liv Ullmann, visited the Montreal World Film Festival, 2012 edition, on Wednesday August 29. The Norwegian actress was there to present her autobiographical film Liv & Ingmar, a film directed by Dheeraj Akolkar and produced by Rune H. Trondsen. 
The film is a documentary about the story of true love between Ingmar Bergman and Liv Ullmann. Several spectators who watched the film say they see themselves in the story which reaction is proof that the director has managed to recreate in his film the true feeling of love that can exist between two person like it was the case between it and Ingmar. 
Moreover, Serge Losique, President of the World Film Festival paid tribute Wednesday evening to Mel Hoppenheim, the founder of Mel's Cité du cinéma and also one of the builders of the film industry in Montreal.
Photo 1, 2 and 3: Liv Ullmann at the press conference ;
Photo 4: Mel Hopppenheim;
See photo album LeStudio1.com ;

Alexandre Trudeau featured at the Montreal World Film Festival 2012

By Bernard Bujold (LeStudio1.com) -
Alexandre Trudeau, filmmaker and son of former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre E. Trudeau, is one of the stars at the World Film Festival of Montreal, 2012 edition. The new documentary film called : THE NEW GREAT GAME explains the politics around Arab oil transportation via the Indian Ocean and the problem of Somali pirates. The film highlights the role of the United States and the competition with China for oil. The documentary will be shown on CBC / Radio-Canada in the fall. Alexandre Trudeau is the author of a dozen documentary films in his career. Several personalities were present at the first WFF with Phyllis Lambert and Justin Trudeau, the brother of Alexander.
Photo 1.2: Alexandre Trudeau;
Photo 3: World Film Festival;
Photo 4: Movie poster Alexandre Trudeau ;
See photo report LeStudio1.com ;

Quebec Elections 2012 - Jean Charest majority at 70 seats...

By Bernard Bujold (LeStudio1.com) - According to the survey Léger and Léger released this Saturday, August 25, the next government will be a minority PQ with 33% of the vote against 28% for the CAQ and 27% for the Liberals. 
According to Jean Charest, the survey is totally wrong… 
One thing is certain: voters will not vote for a leader but by elimination, choosing those they do not want to see elected Prime Minister and then voting for the last remaining. 
Pauline Marois is in trouble, a week from the vote on September 4, while the stars likes Jacques Parizeau say they will not vote for Marois. 
François Legault began seriously to scare labor and he is losing support from civil servants and public sector employees. 
The winner becomes Jean Charest, by self-elimination of the other contenders by themselves. 
According to some informants, the Liberals hope to take advantage of the rejection of their opponents and their own county by county survey would state the possibility of a majority government with 70 seats. This figure would leave 55 seats to be shared among the opponents… Stay tuned! 
Photo 1: Jean Charest, Pauline Marois and François Legault;
Photo 2: Jean Charest;
See story Le Journal de Montreal ;