Politician and personality nicknaming in Quebec

From Freepedia

A custom of Quebecers is to give nicknames to their politicians (and some personalities), quite especially their Premiers. Many of those given to Premiers are affectionate or even noble, while others are insulting.

Nicknames of Quebec Premiers

• Maurice Duplessis (1936 &ndash ;1939 and 1944-1959): Le Chef ("The Leader").
  • Often used disparagingly to evoke Duplessis's perceived despotism. It should be noted however that he apparently used the nickname to refer to himself.
• Daniel Johnson Sr. (1966 – 1968): Danny Boy.
  • Nickname probably originating from political cartoons, drawn before his taking power, mentioning the name and portraying him as a cowboy.
• Robert Bourassa (1970 &ndash ;1976 and 1985 – 1994): Boubou.
  • Also inspired the term "Boubou Macoutes".
• René Lévesque (1973 – 1985): Ti-Poil (literally, "Lil' Hair", but more accurately translated as "Baldy").
  • A reminder of his often ruffled comb-over.
• Jacques Parizeau (1994 – 1995): Monsieur ("Sir").
  • Positive and relatively "noble" reference to his well-known aristocratic pride and assurance. Source of the title of a 2003 documentary, Monsieur. about Parizeau.
• Lucien Bouchard (1996 – 2001): Lulu.
• Jean Charest (2003 – ): Charest has gained numerous nicknames, partly during the opposition to his government.
  • Patapouf or Patapouf Premier ("Patapouf the First").
    • The name was rumoured to be a nickname given by Charest's wife, something he denied. It first came to be used in the campaign Destituons Patapouf!, an operation of disgruntled citizens who spread a petition from 2003 to 2004 to have Charest recalled, not unlike California governor Gray Davis. The word is an common name for a clown in Quebec French (like Bozo). Patapouf Premier is a sarcastic variant that paints Charest as a farcical, despotic monarch. It is used mockingly.
  • Le Frisé ("Curly").
    • Referring to his famous curly hair. It is negative. A humorous, mocking song from irony rocker Mononc' Serge about the man is entitled "Le Frisé".
  • Le p'tit Saint-Jean-Baptiste ("Lil' Saint John the Baptist").
    • The Saint-Jean-Baptiste parades of first half of the 20th century usually featured a curly boy representing Saint John the Baptist. It is therefore another mocking of Charest's hairstyle. This could also refer to Charest's birthdate, which is June 24, the feast of John the Baptist.

Similar nicknames

• Louis St. Laurent (Prime Minister of Canada from 1948 to 1957): Oncle Louis ("Uncle Louis").
• Camillien Houde (Mayor of Montreal from the 20s to the 50s): Monsieur Montréal.
• Pacifique Plante (crime fighting lawyer from the 40s to the 50s): Pax Plante.
• Pierre Elliott Trudeau (Prime Minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and 1980 to 1984): Ti-Pet ("Lil' Fart") or Pet.
  • Always derogatory. P.E.T. were Trudeau's initials traditionally used in English Canada as alternative naming and pet is French for fart. Since Trudeau was in power for many of the same years as Lévesque, the two were sometimes referred to collectively as "Ti-Pet et Ti-Poil" by irreverent members of the population.

• Brian Mulroney (Prime Minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993): Le p'tit gars de Baie-Comeau ("Little Guy from Baie-Comeau").
  • Mulroney was born and raised in Baie-Comeau, a city in the Côte-Nord region of Quebec.

• Jean Chrétien (Prime Minister of Canada from 1993 to 2003): Le p'tit gars de Shawinigan ("Little Guy from Shawinigan").
  • Chrétien received a similar nickname to Mulroney's. His refers to his own city of origin, Shawinigan, Quebec.

• Mario Dumont (leader of the Action Démocratique since 1994): Super Mario.
  • A common criticism towards Dumont is his relative young age. Super Mario is both a comment on his youth (referring to the Nintendo video game series Super Mario Bros., popular amongst children) and an ironic glorification of his underdog popularity.

Possible explanations

A plausible reason for the custom of Quebecers belittling the very leaders they choose may be the complex of the colonized (an inferiority complex of a dominated people) that some thinkers say they harbour. When these nicknames are reviewed, it can be striking how often, as with other Quebec expressions, the word "little" (petit or p'tit) and other humbling references appear. Another more positive explanation might be a simple sign of the humility of the people of Quebec.