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The Parti Québécois is increasingly confident of winning Monday's Quebec election as its leader aims to secure a majority, with Tom Mulcair warning the vote matters to all Canadians.
The Parti Québécois is increasingly confident of a win on Monday in the Quebec election as the party's leader aims to convince Quebecers to give him a majority government.
Quebec Vote Shapes Canada's Future
The latest development comes as former federal NDP leader Tom Mulcair warns that Monday's vote, more than any other in a generation, could have a determining effect on the future of Canada itself. Mulcair, who led the federal New Democratic Party from 2012 to 2017 and is now a political commentator for CTV News and a columnist for CTVNews.ca, said the election is unique and deserves attention from Canadians outside Quebec.
He acknowledged that many people shrug off the threat of separation as background noise since the Parti Québécois was first elected exactly 50 years ago in 1976. The Parti Québécois is set to win on Monday and its headstrong leader, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, known as PSPP, is promising a destructive push for a referendum and a unilateral declaration of independence even if he only gets a minority.
Mulcair noted that would fly in the face of the Canadian constitution and the Supreme Court ruling on secession. Only 30 per cent of Quebecers want a referendum and even fewer would actually vote for separation, according to Mulcair. He explained that five parties are seriously vying for the favour of Quebec voters, a rare atomization in a British-inspired first-past-the-post democracy. The divisions are cross-hatched by the question of whether Quebec stays or goes.
Separatist Parties and Electoral Landscape
There are two separatist parties: the very right-wing Parti Québécois and the very left-wing Québec Solidaire. QS spun off some 20 years ago, bringing together progressive forces, the union movement, social groups and women's rights groups during a time of dire economic conditions and mammoth debt. Under PQ Premier Lucien Bouchard, the quest for deficit zero had been brutal, and socially progressive separatists no longer felt at home with that party.
Québec Solidaire's small numbers were a strong voice for the underdog during the Jean Charest years, and in the most recent legislature they achieved party status with 12 members of the National Assembly. The three non-separatist parties are the outgoing Coalition Avenir Québec, the stalwart Quebec Liberal Party, and the up-and-coming Conservative Party of Quebec.
Premier Christine Fréchette has worked hard to distance herself from her predecessor, François Legault, going so far as to rebaptize the CAQ, adding Équipe Christine Fréchette on the ballot. Fréchette ran a stellar campaign for the first half of this contest.
Fréchette Campaign Hits Legal Crisis
Then the wheels fell off. She had been successfully courting English-speaking voters and voters whose first language is neither English nor French. She then threw it into the dumpster after she refused to send bilingual election notices, the first time in Quebec history and a clear violation of the Canadian constitution. The courts quickly corrected that with an injunction ordering the government to respect linguistic rights.
But it was too late, and it brought back memories of the CAQ's intolerance towards minorities. Fréchette also said it did not matter whether she was a separatist or a federalist, which sent voters back to the Liberals in droves. It began a downward spiral she was never able to control as other campaign difficulties piled up.
In a campaign that was the mirror opposite of Fréchette's, QLP leader Charles Milliard had an abysmal start but is now enjoying a very successful sprint to the finish line. The division of the vote is playing havoc with the party's projected seat total, but they are fairly expected to remain the official Opposition, not something anyone would have bet on just a few weeks ago. Milliard is the only true federalist in this campaign.
Both Fréchette and Conservative leader Éric Duhaime have proudly said that they voted yes to the breakup of Canada in the 1995 referendum. As the real threat of Quebec separation posed by the PQ has finally begun to sink in, and with the collapse of the CAQ, the Liberals have reignited voters' interest as the only vehicle to stop a referendum.
PQ Discipline and Conservative Breakthrough
Mulcair predicts the biggest new news in this campaign will be the election of the first Conservative members since 1936. Duhaime has run a focused and highly disciplined campaign and could well achieve party status if he wins 12 seats. The PQ has a Soviet-like discipline when it comes to planning, and it has a plan.
First, never say referendum, a consultation or democratic exercise. Put them to sleep with vocabulary. But PSPP cannot help himself. He boasts on air of being pigheaded.
That worked brilliantly for him when he and his two colleagues, in the last election the PQ elected only three members, refused to swear the constitutionally required oath to the Crown. Legault said they had no choice. PSPP said they would not swear an oath to the Monarchy, come hell or high water. Legault blinked and changed the law, which is being challenged in the courts, and the PSPP legend was born.
CP24
CTVNews:This story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.
Quebec Election Parti Québécois Paul St-Pierre Plamondon Tom Mulcair Quebec Referendum
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