- BREAKING NEWS - 2026

FIRST WEEKEND OF FALL 2026 -  This weekend is the first of the 2026 fall season.  Have a great weekend!  www.lestudio1.com

QUEBEC 2026 ELECTION PROJECTIONS -  By Bernard Bujold -  The third debate for the Quebec 2026 Election (Radio-Canada) has confirmed that Paul Saint-Pierre Plamondon will be the next premier! The question that remains: Who will lead the Official Opposition? It’s fair to say that Plamondon won all three debates by not losing any of them…   Christine Fréchette absolutely had to use the debates to position her candidacy and the continuation of her current term as the ideal choice, but she failed to do so. The third debate has made it even more uncertain who will be the Official Opposition, as the three contenders—Charles Milliard, Éric Duhaime, and Ruba Ghazan—all performed very well and each has a chance to win over voters in the remaining 12 days of the campaign. In total, there are 127 seats, and assuming the Parti Québécois secures a minimum majority of 64 seats, that leaves 63 seats up for grabs—about 20 per candidate. Personally, as someone who loves election pred...

2026 QUEBEC ELECTIONS - DEBATE NO. 3 - By Bernard Bujold - ​Personally, I’ve always considered politics to be a form of sport comparable to hockey. Momentum—that invisible, inexplicable force—is generally insurmountable, and it’s always this force that determines the winner, regardless of the talent of the players (or the political candidates in the race).  Christine Fréchette reminds me of the Montreal Canadiens facing off against the Carolina Hurricanes in last season’s playoffs. The Hurricanes had eliminated the Canadiens in five games (4-1), and it was clear that momentum was against the Montreal team. It’s obvious that Paul Saint-Pierre Plamondon has the momentum and should win the ultimate trophy. Christine Fréchette will not be able to defeat the Parti Québécois! The question, then, becomes whether she will be able to secure second place as the Official Opposition or whether she will be eliminated from the National Assembly—just as Brian Mulroney’s Conservatives were elim...

FALL 2026  By Bernard Bujold -  Fall 2026 arrives on Tuesday, September 22, at 8:05 p.m.  For me, fall has always been my favorite season. The colors are magnificent, and the weather is neither too hot nor too cold… Have a great fall, everyone!  Watch the video  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1K6tyd4_lvAyAmrt1R9Lao04NWc686fD-/view?usp=sharing

END-OF-SUMMER READ...  By Bernard Bujold -  For this last weekend of summer 2026 and the arrival of fall on Tuesday, September 22, at 8:05 p.m., I got my hands on the new autobiography by MAYE MUSK (the mother of Elon Musk, someone I greatly admire): “TIMELESS.” It’s a short book—only 202 pages—but it fully reveals Maye’s personality (78-year-old) and explains how she raised her three children: Elon, Kimbal, and her daughter Tosca. Maye was born in Regina, Saskatchewan, but she moved to South Africa to raise her family and now lives in New York.  The central theme of the book is that, no matter your age, you can start a new chapter in your life and find personal fulfillment. Maye likes to say—just like me—that our life is like a play made up of acts. Each stage (period of life) is like a new chapter in a book, and we all have several chapters in the book of our lives…  A fascinating read to welcome the fall season, which will be upon us next week.  Have a nice w...

DEBATE NO. 2 - Alone Against Everyone...  By Bernard Bujold -  The second debate of the QUÉBEC 2026 election campaign, presented by NOOVO TV (BELL) yesterday, Wednesday, September 16, showed that Christine Fréchette is somewhat alone against everyone…  If there’s one takeaway from the second debate, it’s that the question at the ballot box could very well be: “Do you want to re-elect the former CAQ government, or do you want to take a chance on Paul Saint-Pierre Plamondon and the threat of a possible referendum?” It’s worth noting that none of the other three leaders, aside from Fréchette, really wanted to aggressively attack Plamondon over his referendum during the second debate. Fréchette did try to get the other leaders to attack Plamondon, but none of them went along with it, and even Milliard declined the invitation, telling Fréchette that he would address the referendum issue directly with Plamondon and that they should return to the topic currently being discusse...

DEBATE 1 - QUÉBEC 2026  By Bernard Bujold -  We can conclude that the clear winner last night, September 15, in the first of three debates leading up to the October 5 election was Paul Saint-Pierre Plamondon, who had everything to lose since he is leading in the polls. According to a TVA poll conducted after the debate, 38% of viewers felt that Plamondon had performed the best and had demonstrated that he possesses the qualities needed to serve as Quebec’s premier.  The loser was Christine Fréchette, who was targeted by the other four candidates and was on the defensive throughout the debate.  What does Mark Carney think of the debate? He’ll have to find an ally other than Fréchette to keep the Parti Québécois leader in check, as the party could win a majority or at least dominate the National Assembly alongside Ruba Ghazal.  What would Pablo Rodríguez say? “If I’d been there, I would have done much better than Charles Milliard…”  The second debate is tonig...

THE ART OF DEBATE -  By Bernard Bujold-  Clearly, the three debates among the five candidates vying for the position of Premier of Quebec in the 2026 election could be very decisive, especially given how close the candidates are in the polls.  Personally, most of the elections I’ve observed have often been decided by a single line delivered during a debate.  In 1984, Brian Mulroney knocked John Turner out of the running with his line, “You had a choice!” regarding Pierre Trudeau’s political appointments before he stepped down as prime minister. Brian won 211 out of 282 seats—a historic record for the largest number of seats in Canadian political history.  In 2015, Justin Trudeau dominated Stephen Harper and Thomas Mulcair during a debate, which secured him a minority government.  In 2020, Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump due to Trump’s poor performance in a debate overshadowed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and in 2024, Donald completely ridiculed Biden, who appe...

SERGE LOSIQUE (1931–2026) - THE GLORY OF CINEMA  By Bernard Bujold -  Our friend Serge Losique has left us. I really admired him, and he brought Montreal its moments of glory in cinema. In my opinion, the World Film Festival was just as significant as Expo ’67. However, he was too set in his ways and would not accept any opinion that contradicted his vision. That can become dangerous for one’s survival, especially if, on top of that, one doesn’t know how to surround oneself with people who can protect you. For example, Pierre Péladeau was just as combative as Serge, but he knew how to surround himself and always had a very close circle of people that his enemies couldn’t penetrate. But in the end, Serge was Serge, and the adventure of his Festival enjoyed its moment of glory before fading into the shadows of memories of a bygone era.  See full story  www.lestudio1.com

SELLING A CONDOMINIUM IN 2026—  By Bernard Bujold —  Many people have asked me how my faithful companions and I experienced the recent sale of our city condo!  Real estate is a financial investment, but with the difference that you can’t cash it in whenever you want. You have to wait for the right moment, and that can take anywhere from two weeks to two years…  In our case, the process was complicated because we wanted to sell but didn’t want to leave the city due to professional obligations.  In real estate, the agent acts as an advisor, but doesn’t make decisions for the owner, who must choose whether to sell with or without renovations; set the asking price based on market comparisons; and negotiate offers from potential buyers—if there are any—since it’s possible that no one will show interest (no fish on the hook)…  Renovating a condo for sale is a complicated decision to evaluate because, while renovating will speed up the sale, in 90% of cases, the b...

THE DREAM OF FLYING...  By Bernard Bujold -  On September 11, 2001, I was in the midst of a professional upswing, having just taken on the role of communications director for Air France in Canada. It was a wonderful new challenge for me, following a career in politics (Brian Mulroney) and finance (Quebecor), especially since Air France was planning to expand the Canadian market to France by doubling the number of daily flights.  I remember that sunny fall morning as I waited in the restaurant of the Montreal tower where Air France had its Canadian offices. When I saw one of the planes crashing into the World Trade Center on the restaurant’s TV, I thought it was the trailer for a new fiction movie. Reality surpassed fiction...  All of Air France’s projects in Canada were shelved, and for me, that marked the end of the aviation dream. One great consolation: I wasn’t in one of the towers in New York that morning of September 11, 2001…  www.lestudio1.com