Entre l’arbre et l’écorce (between the tree and the bark) is the equivalent francophone idiom for being caught between a rock and a hard place. This week, leaders of Quebec’s three main political parties all found themselves dealing with competing pressure from two sides — highlighting the delicate predicament each faces — five months before the election. 

Liberal Leader Charles Milliard’s major challenge is in increasing his party’s numbers among francophone voters. Doing so without alienating support from the anglophone community is often complicated in Quebec’s zero-sum game of language politics.

For months Milliard had been sidestepping landmines, saying he would keep Quebec’s new language law, Bill 96, but would modify two aspects, namely the six-month period for immigrants to learn French and the onerous bureaucratic francization rules for small and medium-size businesses. Last week, though, pressed by reporters, he was drawn into specifics, saying he would re-invoke the infamous notwithstanding clause, which was used........

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