The choice facing Quebecers in Monday's provincial election is a stark and familiar one, according to Premier Jean Charest: unity or the division of another referendum.
The tight race is too close to call for most pundits but Charest said he's confident Quebecers will reward his Liberal party with another majority government.
With the tight race is too close to call for most pundits, Premier Jean Charest said he's confident Quebecers will reward his Liberal party with another majority government. Quebec Liberal leader Jean Charest and his wife, Michele Dionne, wave to supporters as they board their bus after a campaign stop in Boucherville, Que., Sunday, March 25, 2007. Quebecers will vote March 26 in a general election.(CP PHOTOCANADA
(Ryan Remiorz/Canadian Press)
"On the one hand there's an opportunity for them to support a government with a strong record. … A government that will keep us united after the 26th of March, that has a very clear plan of where it wants to go," Charest said Sunday.
"The alternative is to support a political party that is going to divide Quebecers and divide our society with referendums, not only one but, if need be, Mr. [André] Boisclair says `I'll make more than one referendum.' "
Last-minute pitches
Charest, the Parti Québécois's Boisclair and the Action démocratique du Québec's Mario Dumont fanned out across the province, making last-minute pitches for support as the campaign came to a close.
After a rally in Drummondville, Charest told reporters he was proud of his record and confident his party would get its second consecutive majority.
But political watchers say the race is so close that the province could end up with its first minority government in modern political history, either Liberal or PQ.
Boisclair, whose political future as well as Charest's hinges on Monday's outcome, said Quebecers do have an important choice to make.
"We have a wonderful opportunity to set Quebec on a positive, constructive road," Boisclair said in Côteau-du-Lac, west of Montreal.
"I hear people telling me they're voting against the political class, against the government. I invite them to vote for a party that can bring real change to Quebec."
Boisclair said voters are angry at Charest: "He lied to Quebecers."
Sovereignty referendum
Boisclair has suggested the ADQ could join the PQ in a coalition that would push ahead with a sovereignty referendum in the event of a PQ minority government.
But Dumont — who supported the Yes side in 1995 but has since renounced sovereignty in favour of greater Quebec "autonomy" within Canada — said Sunday that will never happen.
"Mr. Boisclair is trapped at this point because he realizes … with a minority government, a referendum is impossible," Dumont told reporters. "The ADQ will never support any other referendum.
"He's at the end of a hall, no door, nowhere to go. He is right now alone, isolated, in a very weak position."
The populist ADQ party led by Dumont had just five seats going into the election but is expected, at the very least, to get the 12 needed to earn official party status. It can also achieve such status with 20 per cent of the popular vote.
Dumont said Sunday his ADQ shook up the campaign.
"If [voters] want the national assembly to continue to be lively, with new ideas in the coming years, the ADQ needs a strong presence," he said.
However, some of the excitement the ADQ brought to the campaign was in the form of controversy. Two ADQ candidates were forced to resign over comments about violence against women and "ethnics" overrunning the province.
Constitutional talks
A right-of-centre leader who's tried to appeal to fed-up Liberals and soft sovereigntists in order to break up the Quebec's traditional two-party dynamic, Dumont has promised to reopen constitutional talks with Ottawa and draft a Quebec constitution.
But his promise of greater autonomy for the province is ambiguous, Charest said, and leaves the door open for the PQ.
The Quebec premier made one last appeal to federalists flirting with the ADQ, suggesting a vote for the party would be akin to a vote for the separatists.
Charest said a minority government would weaken Quebec.
Power-sharing between federalists, sovereigntists and a party whose nationalistic leanings are as yet unclear would make it difficult for the province to defend its interests and identity, he said.
But ultimately, "Quebecers will have the last word," Charest said.
Related
Internal Links
| Party | Elected | Leading | Total | Vote Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LIB | 48 | 0 | 48 | 33.08% |
| ADQ | 41 | 0 | 41 | 30.80% |
| PQ | 36 | 0 | 36 | 28.32% |
| QS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.65% |
| GRN | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.89% |
| OTH | 0 | 0 | 0 | .26% |
| Last Update:March 27, 12:52:21 AM EDT | ||||
Quebec Votes 2007 Headlines »
- Que. Liberals take minority win with grain of salt
- Quebec Premier Jean Charest said he'll build bridges with the Parti Québécois and the Action Démocratique du Québec to ensure a stable minority government.
- Dumont will work with Quebec Premier Charest
- Quebec's new Opposition Leader Mario Dumont said he wants stability at the national assembly and pledged to work with the Liberal minority government on a case-by-case basis.
- Boisclair remains at helm after PQ finishes 3rd
- André Boisclair is staying on as leader of the Parti Québécois and vowed to help rebuild the fractured party after it suffered major losses in Monday's provincial election.
- Quebec election result 'good news' for Canada: PM
- Stephen Harper says voters in the Quebec election have used their ballots to reject calls for another referendum in a "great result" for Canada.
- Charest keeps seat as Liberals cling to power in Quebec
- Quebecers are waking up to a minority Liberal government — the first minority in the province in 130 years — and a new official Opposition.