Brandon Sun - PRINT EDITION
“We will respect that choice by governing with all the other elected lawmakers. We’ll make the necessary compromises to make the state work ... We’ll govern in a responsible way.”
— Parti Québécois Leader Pauline Marois on Tuesday night.
Quebecers decided to give the Parti Québécois another chance at governing on Tuesday night, but the minority win will keep the new separatist government on a tight leash.
The victory was hardly a ringing endorsement of the Parti Québécois and its leader, Pauline Marois, who promised confrontation with the federal government in its bid for Quebec sovereignty. Nor was it a stunning rebuke of the scandal-ridden Liberal party, which has stood firm on increasing post-secondary education fees in the face of months of widespread student anger.
As the Montreal Gazette reported on Wednesday, the PQ was elected in 54 ridings, nine seats short of a majority, while the Liberals clinched 50 seats and the upstart CAQ won in 19 ridings. The left-leaning separatist party Québec Solidaire won two seats.
While polls earlier this month had predicted a possible PQ majority, that scenario failed to materialize, as Marois’ party garnered 31.9 per cent of the popular vote, the Liberals 31.2 per cent and the CAQ 27.1 per cent.
It was, however, an indictment of outgoing Premier Jean Charest, who lost his Sherbrooke riding. After nearly three decades in federal and provincial politics, Charest’s political run finally ended.
On Wednesday afternoon, Charest announced he was stepping down as leader of Quebec’s Liberal party — a job he has held for the last 14 years.
What does all this mean for western Canadians? Whether we as westerners like it or not, what happens in Quebec will have repercussions for the rest of the country.
And yet, Quebec has the largest debt of any province in Confederation — nearly $253 billion, or 51 per cent of its gross domestic product, as reported by the Globe and Mail.
Chances are, Marois will be too busy trying to get Quebec’s fiscal house in order to drag her province and the rest of the country through yet another navel-gazing referendum. As well, support for Quebec separation is at an all-time low — perhaps one of the main reasons the PQ failed to gain a majority.
As a result, at least in the near future, sovereignty will be off the table.
Yesterday morning, however, Marois reiterated her election promises to toughen language laws and abolish the Liberal tuition hikes that drew thousands of student protesters into the streets for the past several months.
In part, Marois’ agenda will be played out federally, which will have interesting connotations for the governing Conservatives and the Official Opposition New Democrats. With only six federal Tory MPs elected in Quebec, the Conservatives have little to lose by dismissing PQ demands.
Already, federal ministers have signalled a willingness to brush aside separatist pressure from Quebec. On Wednesday, Human Resources Minister Diane Finley, who oversees employment insurance, refused to entertain suggestions of changing the way EI is managed.
“Employment insurance has been federal jurisdiction since 1940,” Finley told the Globe and Mail. “It’s a national program to help all regions of the country.”
As well, Industry Minister Christian Paradis said the Tories are willing to work with the PQ government on the transfer of powers, as long as federal and provincial interests align, and any changes do not involve reopening the Constitution.
By contrast, the NDP enjoyed a historic breakthrough in Quebec with 59 out of 75 seats in the 2011 federal election, a surge that largely helped the party become the Official Opposition.
But many of the NDP MPs in Quebec have supported sovereignty in the past, and the party has maintained that a bare majority vote in favour of separation — 50 per cent plus one — would be enough to break up the country.
The NDP will be put into a difficult position if the separation question does rear its ugly head — even with a weakened PQ government.
Ultimately much will depend on what PQ faction wins out — the separatist hardliners or those who have promised responsible government. At the very least, it should be interesting to watch.
Republished from the Brandon Sun print edition September 6, 2012
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“We will respect that choice by governing with all the other elected lawmakers. We’ll make the necessary compromises to make the state work ... We’ll govern in a responsible way.”
— Parti Québécois Leader Pauline Marois on Tuesday night.
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“We will respect that choice by governing with all the other elected lawmakers. We’ll make the necessary compromises to make the state work ... We’ll govern in a responsible way.”
— Parti Québécois Leader Pauline Marois on Tuesday night.
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