Parties & Leaders
Parti Québécois Leader: André BoisclairCBC Online News | Updated Feb. 20, 2007
When crowned the new leader of the Parti Québécois in 2005, André Boisclair was celebrated as the voice for a new generation of sovereigntists: nearly 30 years younger than his predecessor, he wooed a flood of new, young members to the party. But Boisclair's ascension after Bernard Landry retired was tainted by controversy over his admission that he used cocaine while in cabinet in the 1990s. Boisclair's judgment and credibility were called into question and those doubts set the tone for what has been a turbulent time since he assumed the PQ’s reigns after Bernard Landry retired in 2004. In late 2006, Boisclair was loudly criticized for his brief appearance in a television parody of the film Brokeback Mountain that featured a fictional Prime Minister Stephen Harper and U.S. President George W. Bush as the leading cowboys. In January 2007, Boisclair angered Quebec's powerful unions with his daring statement that a PQ government would no longer cozy up to organized labour, the party's largest support base. He later offered an olive branch to the unions but his comments resonated widely. Now Boisclair faces the political battle of his life in the 2007 election, in which he'll confront the dual challenges of uniting his deeply divided party while convincing voters he has the leadership and gravitas to form Quebec's next government. When 2007 polls suggested the PQ was bleeding popular support, the party seemed to be turning on its leader. Landry, the man who sold Boisclair on sovereignty two decades earlier and recruited him for the PQ, led the charge in a putsch attempt against his protege and heir. No one in Boisclair's caucus followed suit, but the damage was done. He offered a public mea culpa and vowed to listen to his party's concerns. But before the election was called, Boisclair found himself in hot water over his star candidate recruit, Bernard Drainville, a former bureau chief for the CBC's French-language network, Radio-Canada. While considering a run for the PQ, Drainville had interviewed Boisclair on national television. Drainville was harshly criticized but Boisclair took the heat as well for agreeing to the interview. Very different focus than in 2003 election Now he has to defend his judgment while rallying the PQ's split factions around a platform he says will be very different from what voters were offered in 2003, when the party focused on a four-day work week. He has the task of bridging the divide between the PQ's traditional left-wing base and those who would like to see the party move toward the centre. Boisclair said in early 2007 that he wants to reposition the PQ to attract more voters by offering a social democratic party that also promotes economic development, which he says is a major focus. The PQ unveiled its platform on Feb. 24, three days into the election campaign. The party's top priority is sovereignty, but the PQ backed away from the loaded "referendum" word and proposed instead what it called a "public consultation" with a "referendary agenda" within a first mandate. Achieving sovereignty is the first step Quebec must take in order to meet future challenges and resolve key issues, Boisclair said. The party's other priorities include education, health care, climate change and debt reduction. The PQ pledges to spend $1 billion on education, with most of that money earmarked for post-secondary education. Boisclair has said repeatedly that he will maintain a freeze on tuition. He also wants to lower dropout rates through new programs aimed at encouraging teenagers to finish school. The PQ also promises to spend $1 billion on health care and plans to address environment issues — notably through new laws to create a carbon credit exchange system. The PQ platform also pledges to eliminate provincial sales tax on hybrid cars. The party also addresses Quebec's huge debt, promising to pay it down and only grant tax cuts once the province's economy posts an annual growth rate of 2.5 per cent. First move will be to protect Mont Orford The party's major accomplishment in the past — Quebec's public day-care system — also figures in the 2007 platform, which commits to creating 20,000 new day-care spots by 2010. Boisclair vowed to reverse the Liberal government's decision to privatize parts of Mont Orford provincial park in the Eastern Townships. In an interview on the hugely popular television show Tout le monde en parle on March 4, Boisclair said it would be the first measure a PQ government would introduce, if it wins a mandate. Boisclair will feel pressure from all sides to hold on to PQ voters. On the left, he'll face a new kid on the block, Québec Solidaire, a left-leaning sovereigntist party with socialist values that could split the PQ vote. On the other side, Boisclair has to convince soft nationalists, who traditionally swing between the Liberals and the PQ, that he offers a better alternative. Seeks support in struggling resource-rich areas A youthful 40 and well-spoken, Boisclair can rouse a crowd when the conditions are right and is engaging in person. He recruited thousands of PQ members during his leadership campaign — many of them much younger than the average in the party — and he'll cash in on those efforts while reaching out to the regions. Boisclair will try to capitalize on public disgruntlement with the Liberal government and will focus on galvanizing support in Quebec's resource-rich regions, where thousands of people have lost jobs in the wake of plant closures and mill slowdowns in the forestry and manufacturing sectors. He can also count on campaign support from Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe, arguably the most popular sovereigntist in office today. Boisclair has already broken ground as the first openly gay political leader in Quebec history. If he is re-elected in his Montreal-area riding of Pointe-aux-Trembles and can convince Quebecers he has the mettle to form the next government, Boisclair will make further history by becoming the first openly gay premier in Canada. Several prominent portfolios in past cabinets Boisclair, the sixth leader of the Parti Québécois, was born on April 14, 1966. He grew up in Outremont, Montreal's tony francophone neighbourhood, and attended the prestigious private Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf in Montreal, where he was active in student politics and was president of the Federation of Quebec College Students. After graduating in 1986, Boisclair studied economics for two years at the University of Montreal before dropping out. Landry recruited him in 1984 and Boisclair won his first seat at the Quebec National Assembly in 1989 at the age of 23, making him the youngest MNA in the province's history. He held several prominent portfolios including citizenship and immigration under former premier Lucien Bouchard and was environment minister under Landry. Boisclair also served as environment minister. After the PQ lost the 2003 election to the Liberals, he was named Opposition leader, a position he held until he resigned from the National Assembly to pursue his education in August 2004. Boisclair moved to Cambridge, Mass., where he completed a one-year master's program at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. When Landry resigned as PQ leader, Boisclair heeded a call from the party to return to politics and replaced his predecessor in November 2005. If Boisclair wins the 2007 election, Quebecers can expect a referendum on sovereignty.
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