There will be no election in Quebec this year. Instead, Premier Jean Charest hopes that 2011 will be a year of repositioning — and forgetting.

The premier’s Liberals have a majority, and only the unlikely prospect of a caucus revolt would defeat him. So, assured peace on his home front, Charest will try to use 2011 to rebuild his credibility for a provincial election in 2012 or 2013 at the latest.

Charest hopes to regain control of the political agenda, stressing economic development, stimulus for investment, innovation to develop a green economy and education.

He will pitch Quebec’s energy advantages: hydroelectrical developments, wind energy, shale gas and offshore oil and gas projects in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

But stressing the economy is not likely to silence Opposition calls for a public inquiry into the construction industry. Allegations of corruption have eroded Charest’s popularity and cast suspicion on the political financing practices of his government.

As well, his enthusiasm for developing shale gas deposits, ignoring the consequences of “frac” technology on groundwater and the environment, has reinforced his image as the premier who does not listen.

There are other challenges: later this month, the Bastarache Commission, which Charest launched in an effort to quell his ongoing feud with his former justice minister, Marc Bellemare, will report.

But already the Opposition parties are siding with Bellemare, casting Charest as the first premier since the 1970s to be directly involved in the naming of judges and confirming suspicions of partisanship in cabinet nominations.

The Charest/Bellemare court battle will not go away. The premier is suing Bellemare for $700,000 because Bellemare called him a liar; Bellemare is countersuing for $900,000.

And an environmental impact study on shale gas development is expected in March. In response, Charest will argue that Quebec has learned from the errors of other jurisdictions, promising to frame a law that will allow environmentally sound shale gas development.

But experience in the U.S. suggests that developing shale gas deposits as clean energy near populated areas is impossible.

Still, Charest could get a break from an unusual source. The Parti Québécois will hold a policy convention in April, at which PQ leader Pauline Marois will face a leadership review. And while the PQ is leading in the polls, there are rumblings of discontent within her party.

Marois, stressing her long experience in government, wants to draw away moderate voters to defeat Charest. But PQ stalwarts are less concerned with defeating Charest in the next election than with the PQ’s ultimate goal: making Quebec an independent country. They favour Gilles Duceppe as the new PQ leader.

Charest could gain if Marois is thrown off balance. But he doesn’t want to face Duceppe, Bloc Québécois leader since 1996 and the most popular politician in Quebec, in the next election.

Charest must be hoping a weakened Marois survives the PQ leadership vote. He is also counting on a little voter amnesia and his skills as a campaigner to turn things around for his Liberals when he does call an election. IE