Cushy jobs no doubt await François-Philippe Champagne in the private sector. Or perhaps a run at the Quebec Liberal leadership ...

Let’s say, just for a moment, that you are François-Philippe Champagne.

It’s no secret you’ve had your eye on being prime minister for quite some time, maybe since you were a kid. Friends and colleagues have said as much over the years. “If Canadians believe in what I can do, I will certainly give it a shot,” you told one interviewer almost 15 years ago. You’ve been a bit more discreet of late, for reasons of prudence and party discipline, but still readily admit to being fiercely ambitious. In the usual parlance of eye-on-the-prizers you want to “serve the nation” and “give back.”

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You spent two successful decades in private business, largely outside Canada, before running for office. You were named a “Young World Leader” by the World Economic Forum before age 40. A mostly admiring feature article in politico.com identified you as “a U.S.-educated corporate lawyer turned politician” who was “outplaying America” as industry minister. “I would have thought for a guy like that, the sky’s the limit,” mused a former deputy U.K. prime minister. The first line of a much-cited 2009 Globe and Mail profile opened: “François-Philippe Champagne. Remember that name — you’ll be hearing it again.” And you’re from Shawinigan! What could be better?

To be blunt about it, you’ve done a lot more with your life — and without the family wealth and pedigree — than your current boss had when he set out to be party leader. That same boss, as it happens, is deeply unpopular at the moment........

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