Did the Parti Quebecois jump the shark?

The term 'jump the shark' is often used to describe a moment when the value or popularity of something becomes irretrievable.

Could the Parti Quebecois past 24 hours be their 'jump the shark' moment?

In Quebec and the rest of Canada, the PQ are now being mocked for their reaction to what turned out to be a false report about voter irregularities.

The controversy began on Saturday with an article published in Le Devoir which claimed a spike in anglophone and allophone student-voter registrations in the riding of Sainte-Marie—Saint-Jacques — a predominantly Francophone community.

PQ officials came out swinging insinuating that there was some sort of conspiracy.

"Will the Quebec election be stolen by people from Ontario and the rest of Canada?" PQ Justice Minister Bertrand St-Arnaud said, according to the Globe and Mail.

"The coming week is crucial for democracy."

PQ leader Pauline Marois took aim at existing election laws in Quebec which, according to the Montreal Gazette, require a person to be a Canadian citizen, have lived in Quebec for at least six months and have their primary residence in the province.

"I believe that a person must show they have the will to live in Quebec for a long time or in permanence. Yes, in permanence," Marois said.

“Do they have a Quebec driver’s licence, a medicare card, do they pay taxes here? These are all questions that must be raised. Someone who wants to stay somewhere generally, from the beginning of their stay, they take care of their civil status."

The story turned out not to be true -- in fact, a chief elections office spokesperson is now accusing PQ officials of spreading the false allegations.

"What we don't like is the way these allegations have been used by a political party to say that some election could be stolen in Quebec and there could be fraud, which is false and no elector should believe it," Denis Dion told the Canadian Press.

[ Related: Parti Québécois blasted for spreading false claims of vote fraud ]

So, what we have here is the PQ spreading unfounded allegations.

We then have the PQ implying that there was some sort of covert operation involving students from the rest of Canada trying to influence the election.

And we have the premier of the province dictating voter eligibility rules during the middle of an election campaign?

The whole episode has the media in the rest of Canada coming out with a collective WTF?

Political scientist Bruce Hicks, however, has a theory of what happened — a theory that has seemingly gained some traction throughout Monday.

"It would appear that what the PQ was attempting was to try to in this riding and a few others where they are vulnerable to Quebec Solidaire to create, if you will pardon the wordplay, 'solidarity' among separatist/nationalist voters. By raising the boogeyman of Ontarions trying to interfere in the Quebec election they must have thought the nationalist voters would close ranks behind the incumbent. That they would vote strategically to save Quebec from [corporate Ontario]," Hicks, a Montreal native, told Yahoo Canada News in an email exchange.

"There is a lot at stake for these politicians. Marois broke her promise of have fixed election dates and called an election early. If she doesn't win a majority then her own career is probably over. If the PQ loses, all of these cabinet ministers have squandered probably the last shot in their personal careers to re-establish the PQ as a governing party which could lay the groundwork for independence."

Hicks notes that, according to the opinion polls, the PQ are still in good shape to to win the election but all that could change with this latest story.

"Because of the way the ridings are drawn the PQ can be behind the Liberals and still form the government.‎ But that won't remain true if they do things that may be seen by the voters as desperation," he said.

"What will be key for this story is how it is reported on in the next 24 hours in the Quebec media and how it is understood and perceived by the voters."

(Photo courtesy of the Canadian Press)

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