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Parti Quebecois plan to anger us hints at desperation
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Party
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| Contributor | Monsieur |
| Last Edited | Monsieur Jun 22, 2009 03:20pm |
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| Category | Editorial |
| Author | Chantal Hébert |
| News Date | Monday, June 22, 2009 09:00:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | MONTREAL- The Parti Québécois can't convince enough Quebecers to endorse sovereignty. Since 1995, the percentage of those who would vote yes in a referendum has declined from almost 50 per cent to 40 per cent – a number that does not even translate into a majority of francophones.
There has rarely been a federal government as unpopular in Quebec as Stephen Harper's. Yet, in another ominous first for the PQ, unhappiness with the Canadian government of the day does not translate into increased support for sovereignty.
No matter! If she becomes premier, PQ Leader Pauline Marois will turn to other Canadians to advance her big project. In the next Quebec campaign, her party will run on a Quebec-Canada platform that borrows heavily from her federalist foes.
Marois describes her proposed program as sovereignty "à la pièce" but it really is a pastiche of the autonomous regimen pursued with varying degrees of intensity by successive Liberal premiers and by the Action Démocratique du Québec.
But while they all sought to make Quebec more comfortable within Canada, Marois is seeking to make other Canadians more uncomfortable with Quebec. Her program comes with a public disclaimer that the reforms she seeks are only stopgap measures on the way to full-fledged sovereignty. Fulfilling all of them would not be enough for the PQ to renounce its objective.
Sovereignist strategists are under no delusion that such an approach would open Canadian hearts and minds to greater autonomy for Quebec. At least for some, getting no for an answer is actually one of the best parts of the plan. |
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