Regards, Ivan
The (unofficial but widely used) flag of Canada...before the trouble started.
Posted on 04/19/2003 5:28:02 PM PDT by MadIvan
THEY represented hope for separatist movements across the world, but the stunning defeat of the Parti Quebecois in elections this week appears to have finished off its campaign for independence.
After nearly a decade in power in the largely French-speaking Canadian province, voters dramatically dumped the party in favour of the Jean Charest’s federalist Liberal party and his promise of tax-cuts. The Liberals won 76 seats in the provincial legislature, compared with just 45 for the centre-left Parti Quebecois (PQ).
The extent of the victory was underlined by a major shift in voting patterns, with large numbers of French-speaking voters abandoning their traditional political allegiances in favour of the Liberals.
The Parti Quebecois’ strategy to win power - attacking the ability of former Liberal governments to rule and saying it could do a better job - has been emulated by the Scottish Nationalist Party and other independence movements across the globe.
But the demise of the PQ in this week’s elections has shown that winning a majority in parliament does not necessarily lead to success for an independence party’s main aim. There remain some fundamentalists within the SNP who claim a simple message of ‘independence or nothing’ would be more effective.
Most humiliating for Bernard Landry, the leader of the Parti Quebecois, was the fact that independence barely rated as an issue in the minds of most voters.
Flushed with the success, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien, an arch-enemy of Landry, jokingly called the election victory "the cherry on my sundae".
For Andrew Coyne, a columnist for Canada’s National Post newspaper, it was more significant: a "seismic shift", "historic rejection" and a key milestone on the road to the marginalisation of the PQ as a political movement.
He argues that the only hope for the separatists was that Charest, who was previously distrusted as a pawn of the national government in Ottawa, would make some colossal political blunder.
The rift between French-speaking Quebec and the rest of the country has been a defining factor in Canadian politics since the country’s creation. But it is only in the past 40 years that separatism has entered the political mainstream.
In 1976, the PQ scored its first election victory, sparking fear among the minority English-speaking Quebecers and an exodus of businesses to Toronto, now Canada’s undisputed financial capital.
One of the PQ’s achievements was to revive the use of the French language, which it saw as under threat from the rest of English-speaking North America.
Part of the legacy of those years are laws - detested in the rest of the country - which ban the use of English on signs and restrict access to the English school system in the province.
But as far as the dream of a sovereign Quebec is concerned, success has always been just beyond the PQ’s grasp.
In the last referendum in 1995, a majority of just 50,000 people out of 5.5 million voters decided that it should remain part of Canada.
Support for the concept seemed to wax and wane depending on the popularity of the party leader.
Rene Levesque, the charismatic, sharp-tongued visionary who led the party to its first election victory had no problem winning elections, but when it came to marshalling support for a referendum, he fell short of the mark.
It was a similar story with Lucien Bouchard, who led the PQ to power in the mid-90s. The Quebecois loved Bouchard - but in the end they chose the status quo.
The federal government’s persistent warnings of massive economic instability proved telling on public opinion.
In the past, the PQ tried to minimise the economic concerns of the Quebecois with social benefits.
This time around, Landry’s election platform called for a four-day working week, extra holidays for those raising a family and tax breaks for Quebecois who took their holidays in the province.
That is just plain bonkers - Ivan
But instead ‘Quebecers’, as they are called in English, opted for Charest’s promise to slash income tax by about 10 cents in the dollar and reduce public spending.
A former federal Tory, Charest was persuaded to lead the Quebec Liberals five years ago as part of a federalist effort to take control of the province from the PQ.
He has worked hard to counteract the sense many Quebecois have that he is "Ottawa’s man", but the victory has allowed him to talk about building a better relationship with the capital.
"I believe we will demonstrate that this federation can work more effectively," Charest told a news conference last week.
"My approach is going to be very different from any other premier of the past.
"We have come now to the point in our federation where we need, as governments, to work in much closer co-operation to defend the common interests we have."
This could be a glimmer of hope for the nationalists. While a large proportion of Quebecois have given up on separatism, many still harbour an instinctive distrust of Ottawa that could provide ammunition for the PQ in future.
But shortly after conceding defeat, a disheartened Landry announced plans to retire from politics. He claimed his defeat had nothing to do with separatism: "Voters simply desired change."
As it stands there is no one of any stature to replace him, so for the foreseeable future the PQ appears destined to drift.
However, Landry refused to concede that the fight for a sovereign state of Quebec was dead.
"Let’s be careful," he said. "I have heard that a thousand times in my life."
Talking their language
QUEBEC nationalism flared up in the 1960s when militants began agitating to split from Canada and establish a French-speaking nation.
In 1969, French and English were both declared the official languages of Canada.
In 1970, terrorist acts by alleged separatists climaxed with the kidnap and murder of Quebec’s labour and immigration minister, Pierre Laporte. Then Liberal prime minister Pierre Trudeau’s federal government reacted by sending in troops and temporarily suspending civil liberties.
Trudeau, who held office from 1968 to 1979 and 1980 to 1984, was a staunch opponent of the Quebec separatists despite being a Quebecois himself, and led the successful No campaign in the 1980 referendum on independence. But he did introduce official bilingualism to the province.
In 1987 the Meech Lake constitutional accord attempted to recognise Quebec as a "distinct society". But despite being passed by the House of Commons, the accord fell in 1990 when Newfoundland and Manitoba withheld their support. Canadians also decisively rejected constitutional changes in a referendum in 1992 that would have recognised Quebec’s special status. And in 1995, Quebec voters narrowly rejected secession from Canada.
Regards, Ivan
The (unofficial but widely used) flag of Canada...before the trouble started.
If Quebec WERE to leave, it would isolate the 4 eastern provinces from the western provinces, but it would be worth it!
I don't pretend to understand the politics of our neighbors to the North, but it's facinating that it's the Liberal party who want to cut taxes....
I think in 2000, according to looking around this link.
Separatism is an excuse for the ruling Party in Quebec to suck money from the rest of Canada trough the Federal Government in Ottawa, which not only gives them money but also, creates jobs there. It's ironic that the Separatists in Quebec want to separate yet, they support Palestinian statehood. However, we all know about Quebec's latent historic anti-Semitism.
Stunning? I'm from Quebec and no party ever wins more than 2 straight mandates. Ever. This in addition to them being sorry-a** clowns imposing the highest taxes in North America. I didn't vote for them, nor the Liberals, but seeing them outta here is relief enough for the next 4 years.
You've got that absolutely right -- You know the Canadian political scene very well!
Oh, yeah -- I forgot about that. LOL.
Happy Easter to you, too!
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