The next provincial election is still two years away, but (new Parti Quebecois leader Andre) Boisclair has battles almost as big to fight within his own party.
The PQ leadership race was hard-fought and divisive, with a split between Boisclair's supporters and party hardliners who believe the 39-year-old leader leans too far to the right.
And though Boisclair promised to "seek a mandate to hold a referendum on Quebec sovereignty as soon as possible" -- that might not be good enough for hardline sovereigntists who were frustrated over Bouchard's wait for "winning conditions" to materialize before holding a referendum.
"It sounds too familiar to those who heard Mr. Bouchard wait and wait for winning conditions," said Kahane in Montreal. "They don't want to hear that. They want to hear that he is going to hold a referendum immediately, and if there is a "Yes" vote then, no matter what, have a unilateral declaration of independence."
You saw it here first: a homosexual freebaser who suggests a little financial restraint and keeps playing coy about the timing of a secession referendum is too far to the right for Quebeckers.
If Quebec thinks that the rest of Canada is stifling its rightful aspirations, it's doing the same to ours as well.
Let's hope that Boisclair leads the PQ to victory, in the next election and referendum. Because if the choice is between Quebec or Alberta leaving, we know whose departure would weaken Canada the most, economically, politically, and culturally.
Source: CTV
7 comments:
This is an idiotic post. With brilliant ideas such as this it is little wonder the federalist vote in Quebec is going to the Bloc.
Quebec should be fertile ground for a real federalist alternative such as the CPC. But as long as such bigoted views keep popping up in the CPC base, Quebecers won't give the party a chance.
Accusations of bigotry will not erase our unpleasant political reality: Quebec and the rest of Canada have diverged so fundamentally as societies that Confederation in its current form is no longer workable.
The unwavering commitment of the Quebec separatist movement to its goal, and the rather less fervent and more qualified attachment by federalist Quebeckers to theirs, suggests that secession is only a matter of time.
Moreover, the Bloc Quebecois is so firmly entrenched in Quebec that it will continue to stand athwart both parties' ambitions for majority government.
The Conservative Party cannot hope to break the Bloc's hold on Quebec; it can only hope to replace the Liberal Party in Quebec as the default option for Anglophone Quebeckers, recent immigrants and federal civil servants in the Outauouais.
So long as Quebec is in Confederation, the Bloc will dominate it, and we will have endless unstable minority governments and the constant threat of secession.
No country can achieve its potential if it must continually devote its energies to bare survival as a united entity.
The two major political parties have two competing visions of Canada, both of which are so offensive to a particular province that the next election will provoke one of them to secede.
If the Liberals win, Alberta will leave; if the Conservatives win, Quebec will leave.
The question for English Canadian voters, especially those in Ontario, is simple: which province are you willing to let go?
I will expand on this theme in the next few days.
LOYALIST
And you know all this living in Toronto? You need to visit Quebec and listen a bit.
Sure, most Quebecers are partial to Quebec, but that does not mean that their loyalties are mutually exclusive. Except for a hardcore separatist element, most couldn't care less for this debate except for the fact that it has always worked in bringing more federalist goodies to the province.
If separatist sentiment is on the rise in Quebec it is because the Liberals have destroyed the federalist brand by their corruption. If the CPC can manage to secure a majority in the rest of Canada, you can be sure that many disenchanted Quebec voters who have temporarily parked their vote with the BQ will be kicking the CPC's tires the next election.
This is an incredible opportunity for the CPC to become the federalist standard bearer in Quebec. Consequently, it would be a huge mistake to let short-term electoral considerations drive strategy in the province. The CPC needs a big electoral presence in the province whether they are likely to pick up seats time around or not this.
lol! Ya, a hardcore separatist vote of 49 point some-odd percent last referendum if I recall correctly...
Let Quebec go willingly. If not, invite them to leave. This country has not been viable since the beginning. Quebec has been dragging us down since we started letting them. They cost too much for the little good they do.
Let them drown in their own socialism - without us paying for it.
My sympathy for Quebec has reached into negative numbers. Be gone.
Loyalist, as an Albertan I must disagree here. Quebec is incredibly distinct politically and culturally. I would say that the loss of Quebec by Canada would be a greater cultural loss than my Alberta...not to insult the western culture of Alberta. Economically, that's a different answer.
I have had Liberal bloggers state they would rather lose Alberta than Quebec and this is incredibly offensive no matter whether you're arguing to dump Alberta or Quebec. If we took a vote across Canada as to which province they would choose to vote off the island, I'm not certain either province would be first. Let's not write off provinces quite yet huh?
We have a couple of reformed drinkers as premiers in BC and Alberta so I'm kinda hesitating to jump to judgement.
Steve and Brian C - thanks for injecting some excellent commentary into this chain.
This country is way too good to throw away piece by piece...
If you have a chance and are able to read some French have a look at Frederik Boisvert's blog (http://frederikboisvert.blogspot.com/).
Boisvert is a CPC candidate in Quebec City. He basically lays out the views of what he refers to as the "new" Quebec nationalist - one who doesn't want his province/people to wallow in isolation and feels that the province's isolation (via the BQ) from the rest of Canada is doing them a huge disservice.
One of his statements/questions to a Quebec audience was along these lines [sic] "..we complain that English Canada doesn't understand how different we are... have we ever taken the time to understand that English Canadians are different as well...?"
This guy has travelled a bit as well... it shows.
I have made a trackback to your post here.
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