Quebec opposition parties push sovereignty issue

Last Updated: Monday, October 27, 2008 | 12:48 PM ET

CBC News

Under the cloud of an economic crisis and likely fall election, politics in Quebec has turned once again to the question of sovereignty.

Both provincial opposition parties — the Action Démocratique du Québec and Parti Québécois — held separate conferences over the weekend in which sovereignty figured prominently.

ADQ Leader Mario Dumont was on the defensive, with his party slumping in the polls and rival parties openly fishing for disgruntled ADQ legislative members.

Dumont is still dealing with the stunning defection of two ADQ assembly members last week — André Riedl and Pierre Michel Auger — who crossed the floor to join the Liberals.

In the midst of uncertainty about his leadership, Dumont reaffirmed the ADQ's autonomist demands for Quebec, and called for new constitutional talks with Ottawa, including official recognition of the Quebec nation within the Canadian Constitution, contingent on provincial and territorial support. He also stressed the ADQ's desire to see Quebec gain its own constitution.

"We spring forward with a united team and a solid platform," he told supporters on Sunday.

PQ Leader Pauline Marois launched a "sovereignty manifesto" on the weekend that spells out the party's long-standing commitment to and justification for Quebec's independence.

The two-page manifesto — essentially an overview of the PQ's political philosophy since its inception 40 years ago — will serve as a dialectical tool for herself and party members, Marois said. She is planning a provincewide tour to sell the idea of sovereignty to Quebecers, starting with young people in colleges and universities.

"We will accomplish the project we've been building for 40 years — that of making Quebec a sovereign nation," she said.

The PQ launched the new platform on Quebec sovereignty on Saturday, reaffirming the importance of protecting Quebec's language and culture and of increasing the province's economic autonomy and international profile.

Economy not ignored, Marois and Dumont say

Both Dumont and Marois tried to maintain their messages about weathering the economic crisis, even as they talked sovereignty.

Quebec has a great opportunity ahead once the economic meltdown dissipates, Dumont said. The aftermath will provide ideal conditions to push for changes in Quebec, including restructuring the school system and modernizing the state.

The ADQ promises to "modernize our government, make it more flexible; rebuild our schools; and rebuild national autonomy, national identity, to make sure Quebec will have its political space to work and express its identity, while at the same time to end the uncertainty and those problems," he said.

During a partisan rally Saturday, Marois called for a national emergency plan to help families and businesses hit by the crisis.

She insisted sovereignty and economic fortitude are not mutually exclusive, reminding her audience the PQ steered Quebec through the 1981-82 recession and economic slowdown after the 9/11 terrorist attacks without incurring a deficit.

Independence will provide Quebec with better means to make more coherent economic decisions, Marois said.

No time for sovereignty talk, say Liberals

Meanwhile, Quebec Economic Development Minister Raymond Bachand slammed the leaders of both opposition parties in an impromptu news conference Sunday.

Bachand reproached Dumont and Marois for not tabling one concrete idea for economic development during their respective congresses.

"I'm trying to guarantee and increase investments," he said. "People in New York, Toronto, Berlin or London ask me all the time how it's going in Quebec: 'Is the government supported by the opposition parties?' When they see this they'll say: 'What? They're talking about the constitution again?'"

The minister did not deny the potential of a fall election, saying only that voters rarely greeted the possibility of an election with any enthusiasm.