CANADA: Election Puts Quebec Separatist Movement on Hold

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Am Johal

VANCOUVER, Mar 28 2007 (IPS) - Liberal Premier Jean Charest and Quebec separatists were delivered a deep blow by Quebecois voters as the pugnacious Action Democratique du Quebec (ADQ) made major gains in Canada’s francophone province. Monday’s vote resulted in the first minority government in Quebec since the 1870s.

The Liberals earned 48 seats, 24 less than the party had previously held, while the ADQ saw a dramatic net increase of 37 seats, for a total of 41, and the separatist Parti Quebecois walked away with 36 seats.

The right-wing populism of Mario Dumont, leader of the Action Democratique, won him a wave of support in rural Quebec, after promises of private health care and calls to take a tougher line on immigration. Dumont more effectively articulated the feelings of middle class Quebecers than did his rivals.

Dumont moved the political debate so far rightward that even Liberal leader Jean Charest adopted a conservative European line of saying that immigrants should have responsibilities and should try to assimilate into the dominant culture.

The election marked a shift in Canada’s usually liberal, multicultural approach to encouraging immigration and ethnic diversity in its mainstream political language.

A sombre Jean Charest accepted the loss of seats with humility. Speaking to supporters in Sherbrooke, Quebec, he said, “Today Quebecers delivered a judgment, a severe one, and the Liberal party and I will have to learn lessons from it.”

“This new assembly will test our political maturity and sense of duty. Quebecers decided to write a page of history tonight and put their politicians to the test. I accept this challenge.”

Charest had governed from the centre and was touting a closer relationship to the European Union for Quebec. He had been given a boost in the middle of the campaign with a federal government budget that favoured massive increases in funding for Quebec.

Dumont was able to steal support from both the establishment Liberal and Parti Quebecois supporters by arguing that Quebec should be more autonomous within Canada. By speaking like a nationalist without calling for total separation from Canada, Dumont tapped into the Quebec desire for political assertiveness in maintaining its French culture within Canada.

In staking out this unique ground, he parlayed the underlying anger directed at Jean Charest’s Liberals and effectively outflanked the separatist movement by understanding that the desire for a referendum on separation was out of touch with the political winds of contemporary Quebec in this election cycle.

Parti Quebecois leader Andre Boisclair, who had been portrayed as too immature and politically inexperienced for the job, is widely expected to face calls for a leadership contest to head the separatist party. But he told reporters that he plans to stay on to fight in the next election, saying, “I think I have both feet firmly anchored in my party.”

Boisclair told supporters on election night, “What we have to realise is that a few seats separate us from power, a few thousand votes. But tonight democracy has spoken. One thing is certain: Quebecers wanted change. They spoke and, humbly, we have to respect that decision.”

Jean-Herman Guay, a political science professor at Sherbrooke University, told Canada’s National Post newspaper, “Until now, the PQ [Parti Quebecois] played a hegemonic role in the province’s nationalist movement. With this election, it has certainly been weakened, along with the threat of separation.”

All three party leaders pledged to work together to make the new Quebec legislature work. But the story of the night belonged to Mario Dumont, affectionately known as “Super Mario” by his supporters. Dumont was once the leader of the young Liberals before breaking off to form his own party.

The ADQ surpassed most expectations by winning 41 seats as it picked up overwhelming support with a populist backlash in key regions, including Quebec City and the greater Montreal area, easily sweeping aside Parti Quebecois and Liberal incumbents and cabinet ministers.

Laurent Dobuzinskis, a political science professor at Simon Fraser University, told IPS, “Though the ADQ surprised quite a few people, it was not entirely unpredictable. The inability of the Parti Quebecois to gain seats was about a deeper disconnect with the hinterland.”

“The PQ leadership was more attractive to the urban voter in Montreal and assumed rural Francophone support. This time the ADQ positioned themselves to win that support. It is perhaps symbolic that rural Quebec rejected Andre Boisclair, who was an openly gay leader,” he added. “This would not be a problem in Montreal, it is symbolic of the disconnect with rural Quebec.”

Dobuzinskis said that Mario Dumont’s call for lower taxes and electoral success will benefit Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his federal Conservative minority government, which is expected to call an election in the coming months.

“Dumont may be able to rally the troops and help win seats for Stephen Harper and the Conservatives during the next federal election in the coming months,” said Dobuzinskis.