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Whither sovereignty? Paddy Moore, CBC Online News l March 18 With notes from Lynda Calvert
Just how much of a priority is Quebec sovereignty to the Parti Québécois these days? If you ask PQ leader Bernard Landry, it makes him downright antsy. In fact, the premier seems more than willing to bury his party's raison d'être in this campaign. However, you can find a reference to it deep inside the party's platform, Restons Forts. Of its 25 actions it proposes for a strong Quebec, number 25 calls for a rigourous and methodical framework to prepare the province for sovereignty. While officially presenting the party's platform for the election, Landry outlined a proposal for a "confederal" union, in which Canada and Quebec would be separate, but equal nations working under one political entity. Landry likens the arrangement to the European Union. But for many sovereignists, the idea is a step backwards, and would not create an independent Quebec. Josée Legault, who used to advise Landry on the issue, says the idea is confusing, ambiguous and would likely not be accepted by the rest of Canada, which said "no" to the Meech Lake Accord. The Meech Lake Accord would have recognized Quebec as a distinct society, but it failed because the government bill was not passed by Manitoba and Newfoundland.
Legault also says the "confederal" proposal wouldn't strengthen the culture of Quebec, but would keep it in a dependent relationship with Canada. Perhaps a muddy and ambiguous proposal is just what the PQ wants in its close race with Liberals.
Consider Landry's comment that you don't need to be a sovereignist to vote for his party, only to be a PQ member or candidate. It indicates Landry's desire to steer away from the issue during the election, preferring instead to talk about good government and social programs. When pressed, Landry says he does want sovereignty by 2005, but doesn't say how he'll get there in two, or so, years. And when asked if he's a separatist, he says, "No, I'm a nationalist." In its platform document, the party claims that support for sovereignty in the province over the last 35 years hasn't stopped "progressing".
But for the Liberal leader, the PQ's "confederal" proposal is simply a recasting of "sovereignty association". Jean Charest says Landry is just trying to hide his independence cloak, saying Landry would see a majority win on election night as a mandate to hold another referendum. "I've heard Mr. Landry say many times he wants to be sovereign in Buenos Aires [Summit of the Americas] in 2005. It is 2003," Charest said at the start of the campaign. Charest came out hard on the issue, reminding voters of the PQ's ambition for sovereignty. "The No. 1 issue for the Parti Québécois is sovereignty. Our No. 1 issue is health care." But met with the murky and evasive PQ response, which was spearheaded by their hard sell of family issues, Charest has since backed off, leaving empty the campaign arena of federalist versus sovereignist for the first time in three decades. Even though the Parti Québécois has hidden sovereignty in its top dresser drawer, it could be argued that the party emphasis on reconciling family life and the workplace is an attempt to increase the province's birth rate, and underlines its nationalist inclination. Related Stories:
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