The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.61/No.23           June 9, 1997 
 
 
Rightist Sharpens Anti-Quebecois Stance  

BY KATY LEROUGETEL
MONTREAL - Leading up to the June 2 federal elections in Canada, Reform Party leader Preston Manning has stepped up his strident and chauvinist campaign against any concessions to Quebec rights, putting the other federal parties on the defensive.

The Reform Party, a right-wing populist party based in Western Canada, emerged as one of the three major capitalist parties in Parliament in the 1993 elections, and now places second to the ruling Liberal Party in polls outside of Quebec.

On May 22 the Reform Party began airing an overtly chauvinist ad on English-language TV channels. The ad attacks Liberal premier Jean Chrétien, Conservative leader Jean Charest, Gilles Duceppe of the Bloc Quebecois, and Lucien Bouchard, Quebec premier and leader of the Bloc's provincial counterpart, the Parti Quebecois. It calls for "a voice for all Canadians, not just Quebec politicians." All four candidates pictured in the ad are Quebecois.

Manning denounces the "two main federal parties [Liberal and Conservative]... Both led by Quebeckers." Reform's slogan is "Equality, not distinct society," referring to the status of Quebec.

Manning has challenged Chrétien and Charest to debate him on "national unity," but refused to extend the invitation to Duceppe, leader of the Official Opposition in the outgoing Parliament. Chrétien turned down the proposal.

1995 sovereignty vote spurs debate
The debate on Quebec is prompted by the near-defeat of federal forces in the October 1995 Quebec referendum where 49.4 percent voted in favor of sovereignty. Since that time, Chrétien's Liberal government has asked the Supreme Court to rule against Quebec's right to separation, making clear that the federal government has no intention of accepting the results of a "Yes" vote on sovereignty.

"I will never apologize for having gone to the Supreme Court of Canada to make sure that people of Canada know what it is all about. That there will be no government or no individual that will not respect the Canadian constitution," declared Chrétien in Niagara Falls on May 24.

The Liberals and Conservatives, while hardening their stance against Quebecois self-determination, nonetheless seek to win a base of federal support in Quebec. Both Chrétien and Charest favor giving Quebec constitutional recognition as a "distinct society" with a unique language and culture, while promising that this will not confer special powers on the Quebec government. "It is an issue of identity, it is symbolic," explained Charest on a campaign stop in British Columbia.

The Reform Party, on the other hand, is running hardly any candidates in Quebec. While most newspapers of national standing have given favorable coverage to the approach by Chrétien and Charest, several major Western Canada dailies have backed Reform's stand on Quebec.

Manning calls for a Canada-wide referendum to counter a Quebec sovereignty plebiscite, counterposing "equal rights for all citizens" to Quebecois demands. He also favors the right of communities in Quebec who oppose separation to vote on a partition of Quebec in order to remain in Canada. The Reform leader compares Quebec sovereignty to the secession of the slavocracy that sparked the U.S. Civil War.

Both Chrétien and Charest refuse to discuss the issue of partition, saying respectively that it is hypothetical or a Pandora's box best not opened.

On May 21, 1,500 people rallied in the English-speaking, well-heeled west end of Montreal in support of partitioning Quebec if the province wins its independence. It was the largest political rally of the elections in Quebec so far.

New Democratic Party leader Alexa McDonough declared, "Preston Manning's policies would lead us in this country straight into a civil war." McDonough says that the debate on national unity is a diversion from the real issues. She argues that job creation and halting the social service cutbacks will dull Quebec's will to separate.

Duceppe of the Bloc Quebecois said, "What leads to attitudes of near-hatred like those of Reform are the liberal and conservative proposals that have been served up for years. If Preston Manning denies democracy, he is only harvesting what Jean Chrétien and Jean Charest have sown."

Quebecois not treated equally
The four Communist League candidates in the election are the only ones explaining that Quebec's fight for independence flows from the systematic oppression of the Quebecois in Canada. While Quebec is the country's second most industrialized province, its rate of unemployment stands at 11.2 percent, well above the 9.3 national average.

The rate of illiteracy among Quebecois is higher than among English-speakers and twice as many English-speakers graduate from university than francophones.

"Think of replacing the Quebecois politicians in the Reform ad with Blacks -doesn't the racism jump out at you? It makes me all the more determined to speak out for Quebec independence and affirmative action measures to counter discrimination against women, Blacks, and Native people," said Vicky Mercier, Communist League candidate in the Montreal riding of Rosemont.

The Conservatives, who were reduced to two seats in the last federal elections, are now in a three-way race in Quebec with the Bloc Quebecois and Liberals, and gained ground in the eastern Maritime provinces.

The Bloc Quebecois, a pro-sovereignist capitalist party on the federal scene that is based exclusively in Quebec, has gone down in the polls.

The Quebec Federation of Labor, which called for a Bloc vote in the 1993 elections, has not done so this time, citing the dissatisfaction of union members with the massive social service cutbacks and job losses created by the Parti Quebecois provincial government.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home