When premier jean charest recently announced his surprise proposal for a free trade agreement between Canada and the European Union in Davos, Switzerland, he stole a page from the Parti Québécois game plan and positioned himself for an upset win in the coming Quebec election.

Doing so on the fringes of the World Economic Forum — the annual gathering of the movers and shakers of global business and politics — shows that Charest, the first Quebec premier to date to have been invited to speak at Davos, is a global player.

The PQ says it wants an association between Quebec and Europe after the province becomes an independent country. Charest is proposing that Quebec use the good offices of Canada, with its weight as a G-8 country, to negotiate such an agreement within Canada.

Along with the motion, adopted by the House of Commons, that states that the “Québécois form a nation within a united Canada,” a free trade deal with Europe would benefit the province and play to Quebecers’ affinity with Europe. It also shows Quebec can have its cake and eat it, too — without another referendum.

And it is no accident that Charest has focused on free trade. He was a minister in former prime minister Brian Mulroney’s Progressive Conservative government. After a landslide win in 1984, Mulroney’s popularity slid to record lows in his first term. But he won a second majority in 1988, running on a platform of free trade with the U.S. and the promise of the Meech Lake accord.

The Conservatives’ strong showing in Quebec turned the tide for Mulroney. Quebec showed none of the reluctance of Ontario for free trade and believed Meech Lake would bring recognition of its distinctness within Canada.

In the year after his 2003 win as premier of Quebec, Charest’s style of imposing changes with little consultation eroded his government’s popularity. And voter satisfaction remained low. But as the election, expected this spring, moves closer, the polls are turning around for Charest. His Liberals are ahead of the PQ, and Charest is more popular than PQ leader André Boisclair.

Because of voting patterns, which see Liberal strength concentrated in the Montreal region, the PQ can still win, taking more seats in Quebec’s overwhelmingly francophone regions.

However, there are signs that Boisclair is in trouble in those regions.

He is the first openly homosexual leader of a major party in Canada and has admitted to using cocaine when he was younger, a folly compounded by the fact that, at the time, he was a minister in the government of then-premier Lucien Bouchard.

Those admissions did not hurt his bid for the PQ leadership in 2005, and in worldly Montreal, sexual orientation and drug use inspire yawns.

But, now, awareness that Boisclair is gay seems to be hurting him in Quebec’s more conservative regions.

The PQ leader earned the nickname “Brokeback” after his participation in a television skit that featured cartoon representations of George Bush and Stephen Harper as gay cowboys. The tasteless performance reinforced stereotypes and reminded voters that Boisclair is gay.

As well, since Boisclair entered the Quebec National Assembly last October, he has been Charest’s punching bag in the daily question period, during which the premier speaks openly of the PQ leader’s immaturity and lack of judgment.

Boisclair brushes off the barbs, saying Charest winks at him afterward and shakes his hand in the corridors. This is the natural bonhomie of lawmakers everywhere, but Quebecers don’t want to vote for the loser in the daily dust-ups.

As well, Boisclair gains nothing by suggesting that Charest, his adversary, is really his friend.

Within the Parti Québécois, Boisclair is perceived as abrasive and arrogant. Some of his best and brightest members are not running again, and star candidates and returning veterans plan to sit out the upcoming election.

Meanwhile, Charest — after wrapping himself in green at Davos, where he presented his government’s proposals for sustainable development and where he met with leading world figures — is building momentum, while the PQ falls deeper and deeper into disarray. IE