BY KATY LEROUGETEL
MONTREAL - A crowd of 250, overwhelmingly composed of young people, gathered in Square Victoria in the business district here May 19 to rally for Quebec independence. Youth waved Quebec flags, Patriot flags from the rebellion of 1837 -Canada's failed democratic revolution, and one large red Che Guevara banner.

The action took place in the midst of a federal election campaign in Canada, with polling set for June 2. Quebec sovereignty remains the central question bedeviling capitalist politicians in this country. Both the English and French language recent TV debates between the five main parties' leaders revealed their major difference to be over how to handle Quebec sovereignty.

While Progressive Conservative leader Jean Charest and Liberal premier Jean Chrétien both pressed for national unity through increasing some provincial rights within Canada, Reform Party leader Preston Manning claimed nothing would be solved through wrangling between the old Quebec politicians. His supporters hand out placards which say "Equality not distinct society" in an explicit rejection of Quebec's rights. Alexa McDonough, leader of the New Democratic Party, called for job creation as a way to calm separatist sentiment. Gilles Duceppe of the Bloc Quebecois, which formed the Official Opposition in the outgoing parliament, reaffirmed Quebec's right to choose sovereignty.

The Bloc is an exclusively Quebec-based federal party. Its provincial counterpart, the Parti Quebecois (PQ), forms the government in that province.

The federal government is presently asking the Supreme Court to rule against Quebec's right to secession.

"If equality was real," said Julie Lavoie at the rally, "that would be perfect. Then we wouldn't need a `distinct society.' But we're Canada's cheap labor." She is a member of the Sovereignty Committee at the University of Quebec in Montreal, one of the rally organizers.

"At first I supported political parties," said another UQAM student Valéry Colas. "But I disaffiliated myself. Now I'm involved in the student movement. Pretty much all the members of the student's union support independence. To make independence, though, we don't have a choice but to vote for the Parti Quebecois or the Bloc."

A dozen speakers addressed the gathering including Paul Rose, now leader of the Party of Socialist Democracy and ex- leader of the FLQ (Quebec Liberation Front) in the 1960s; the editor of the union newspaper Nouvelles CSN; Bengaly Fode Diarra, president of the students association at the junior college of Old Montreal and others.

The union federations, the PQ or the Bloc were not represented at the gathering. The unions, while not calling for a Bloc vote, are associated with the PQ and the Bloc.

"Sovereignty is a question of believing in our own capacities," said Marie-Soleil Renaud, representative of a students' union at UQAM addressing the rally. "We don't want to sacrifice social programs on the altar of the zero deficit, take away prisoners' right to vote, or see education as an accounting problem."

Thierry Maxime, 21 years old, who is assistant personnel director for a large multinational corporation, said, "I want Quebec independence in order to live better. I'm against opening the borders to immigrants because there aren't enough jobs. And I'm against unions because every individual is unique."

He was commenting on the Communist League campaign brochure which candidates Michel Dugré and Vicky Mercier were handing out as they participated in the rally. "The fight for Quebec independence will be part of uniting all workers across Canada for their rights against Ottawa," explained Dugré, who is running in the riding of Papineau - St. Denis.

Denis Valiquette, Jean-Francois Trahan and Elsa Martínez contributed to this article.  
 
 
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