Drimonis: Listen up, kids. Time for PSPP's back-to-school lesson on the politics of

I was recently invited to appear on a national current-affairs radio show to comment on the start of the Quebec election campaign for listeners across Canada. I hesitated on how to best describe the overall mood, and settled on “volatile.”

I ended the interview on a foreboding note. Given that a Léger poll shows one in two Quebecers don’t know how they will vote yet — and that we’re in the midst of what’s shaping up to be a tight two- or three-way race — I expressed apprehension that the campaign could quickly turn “ugly.”

Specifically, and not for the first time, I worried the contest could devolve into parties scapegoating immigrants and non-francophone Quebecers for easy votes.