A former presidential candidate for the movement said the official Desjardins poster marking National Patriots Day was as inappropriate as the Canadian flag flying.
• Read more: On the Desjardins affair: “This is unacceptable. It’s also a little shocking,” François Legault reprimands
• Read more: Desjardins Group has apologized for its controversial poster
• Read more: Canadian flag in honor of National Patriots Day at Desjardins
“It looks like Desjardins is trying to separate itself from Quebec,” Daniel Bayle said in an interview.
In 2016, the former leader of the Bloc Québécois and the defeated presidential candidate of Desjardins responded to the controversy over the Canadian flag on posters marking National Patriots’ Day.
Despite Desjardins’ apology, Mr. Bailey believes that “the evil is already over.”
“It’s a regrettable misstep, but the official poster is no better,” he said.
A yellow bike
Remember that this “authorized” banner featured a pretty yellow bicycle with the words “Public Holiday,” a sign that Daniel Bayle believes “Desjardins has lost its Quebec soul.”
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“They have no sensitivity to the patriots, to the extent that they say: ‘Well, it’s a day off, take your bike and go for a ride,'” he said.
“Can we imagine DD Bank or CIBC promoting the 1st public holiday?R July with the yellow bike? Apparently not. It would be normal for Canadian banks to embrace the maple leaf for the occasion,” he continued.
Radio silence
The Canadian flag incident sparked a real outrage among the public and the political class. Prime Minister François Legault described the poster as “unacceptable” in a statement on Tuesday.
Given the magnitude of the situation, Desjardins president and CEO Guy Cormier, Daniel Baile, believes “a very formal apology should be made.”
For now, Mr. Cormier has not made any public appearances, content to post news of the organization on his personal Facebook page. Desjardins declined our interview requests on the matter.
Structural problem
Daniel Bayley believes that this history was made possible by the confusion of roles specific to Desjardins’ organizational structure.
“Managers are also managers, starting at the top of the pyramid. The Desjardins Board of Directors is not independent of its managers. It’s unusual, and that’s why, with this organizational osmosis, Desjardins’ Quebec sensibility has been lost,” he explained, before concluding: “We’ll see what they’re going to do next on Canada Day, and there are two great opportunities for them to reunite.
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