Listening to Jean Charest present his new, downsized cabinet and promise a "different kind of government" that would "break with the past," it was as if Mario Dumont had written the premier's speech.
With the very threatening Action democratique as the official opposition, Charest chose a classic tactic: Play directly on the adversary's territory by taking some of its ideas and priorities.
It's called borrowing a winning formula and hoping that, in power, he'll have the tools to carry it out better than the ADQ that came up with it.
What allowed the ADQ to win an impressive 41 ridings, besides Andre Boisclair's and Charest's weaknesses as leaders? It was campaigning on the regions, families, the elderly, the middle class, the problem of agglomeration councils, the number of welfare recipients, a clearer position on reasonable accommodation, its autonomist approach, and so on.
So guess which priorities Charest announced for his minority government? He asked his minister in charge of regions to take care of the problem of agglomeration councils.
From his finance minister, he requested new tax cuts specifically aimed at middle-income earners. He asked his intergovernmental affairs minister to look into how to limit the federal government's spending power. To the minister in charge of the newly created ministry for the elderly, he asked that she "protect" them (the ADQ asked for an inquiry into how older Quebecers are treated).
He told his employment and social solidarity minister to help more people get off welfare. To his new immigration minister, he asked her to make sure that Quebec's values are respected in the process of integration - a line directly borrowed from Dumont's song book on reasonable accommodation.
The premier also outlined other ADQ-related themes. He referred to "Quebecers who work hard, who have children who grow up, parents who are aging, who need a government that works for them." He spoke of the need to "listen" to Quebecers more, improve their "quality of life," to better connect government decisions with what "touch the daily life of our citizens."
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Dumont must be one happy official opposition leader.
It seems even the Parti Quebecois, now relegated to third-party status, has been overtaken by the everybody-wants-to-be-an-Adequiste wave.
Following the PQ's dismal 28 per cent of the vote on March 26, Boisclair had mused about shelving his party's Article 1 on sovereignty and bringing the PQ more to the "centre" and closer to - guess what - families and middle-class Quebecers.
This week, PQ MNA Daniel Turp pushed this ADQ-envy even farther. He offered his complete support for the ADQ's proposal to have a distinct constitution for Quebec, but within Canada. If it furthers Quebec's interests even in Canada, Turp said, then so be it.
This Wednesday, in one of his very rare appearances since the election, Boisclair called the idea "interesting." Using a classic Robert Bourassa line, he said what matters is that Quebec's "superior interests always prevail."
The PQ is crumbling under a mountain of debt, must fire some of its staff, seems to have only a part-time leader, closes its Quebec City office to save money and hasn't even changed its website where it says the PQ forms the official opposition. Yet the PQ leadership has still found the time to turn autonomist.
The ADQ effect has overtaken both the Liberals and the PQ. Even Charest's new minister of social solidarity refused to answer questions about revelations in Le Devoir that some welfare recipients are having their payments cut if friends or family members help them with food or other things.
Too bad for the poor, I guess. I bet if the question had been about middle-class Quebecer, the minister would have had an answer.
With all the ADQ copycats around, Dumont must be pinching himself silly. And he's not even premier yet.