Legault's most ardent supporters despise the federal Liberals. Why are the federal Liberals gushing about him?

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I’m not sure what I expected from the Ottawa crowd this week when François Legault announced he would step down as premier of Quebec, as the first and only leader of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), and as the most socially corrosive premier of any province in modern Canadian history. I would have expected to find federal politicians’ reactions, shall we say, excessively polite. But I did not expect the seemingly co-ordinated encomiums that gushed forth from senior Liberals.

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“Prime Minister Carney thanks Premier Legault for all the years of dedicated service to Quebec, for his leadership, and for the strong collaboration between the governments of Canada and Quebec,” Carney’s social media accounts announced. (If you’re struggling to recall notable examples of this most excellent and fruitful collaboration — as opposed to, say, the opposite — then you are not alone.)

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