Quebec voters go to the polls today after what has been a pretty interesting election. Charest looked strong going in, but it really is a three way race, even at this late date.
I am not going to speculate on the results of the election, the question that I have is 'if you are a federalist social democrat living in Quebec, who do you vote for?' I've heard voters complain about having to choose between the lesser of all evils, but the lack of decent choices in this election is obscene.
Those living in Quebec know all about how difficult it can be to figure out where to park your progressive federalist vote, but I will attempt to spell out, for all of my non-Quebec readers, how dismal the Quebec provincial elections can be for us NDP types. Here are the options:
The Quebec Liberal Party: Under Jean Charest's leadership this party reminds me of a certain provincial Liberal party that we have out west. They are big fans of the public private partnerships and they want to lift the tuition freeze.
After Charest announced that they would take the new federal money from the budget- the money that Quebec has asked for for a while to address the fiscal imbalance- and spend it on tax cuts, voting for them would be really hard to stomach. No, the QLP is not really an option for social democrats.
Le Parti Québécois: This party has attracted many social democrats in the past, and they have been responsible for some progressive government programs like universal childcare, and electoral reform. They can be credited with getting 'big money' out of politics, but they have changed and they no longer resemble the party of Rene Levesque.
Also, the PQ platform may dance around the whole referendum issue calling for a "public consultation" but Boisclair has made it clear that, should they form government, the PQ would see a referendum on sovereignty as part of their mandate- even if they were a minority government. A federalist living in Quebec may have been able to, in good conscience, help elect a PQ government in the past- because they could count on them to bring forward progressive change- but not today.
Action Démocratique du Québec (ADQ): These guys aren't even near the realm of possibilities for left-wing voters. They have many regressive policies; among the worst is turning Quebec's renowned child care program into something more like Harper's abysmally unfair and unhelpful child care plan.
As well, they are on the way wrong side of the controversial Reasonable Accommodation debate, a debate on what kind of consideration should be given to ethnic minorities and their cultural practices. Many progressive groups find the debate itself insulting, and the fact that the ADQ are surfing the wave of backlash against ethnic minorities is despicable. Also, the ADQ aren't sovereigntists but they don't seem to have a very solid plan for keeping Quebec in Canada. If these folks win, especially if they win a majority, I predict an exodus of progressive Quebecers.
Québec Solidaire: This was supposed to be a shining beacon of hope for social democrats in Quebec but they have not managed to amount to much. They merged all sorts of marginal parties but still could not move out of the margins. Dual leaders is an interesting political experiment, I am not sold on the idea yet, but it certainly is progressive. But alas, they are sovereigntist and their membership is often more pur et dur than the PQ. However, one of their candidates is the guy, Bill Clennett, who was choked by Jean Chretien. If I lived in that guy's riding he would sooo have my vote.
The Quebec Green Party: More progressive than their federal counterparts, as they have very minimal links with the federal greens, but who really wants to vote for a party that doesn't amount to much more than a brand name? Although they do score some federalist points because they refused to merge with Québec Solidaire over the separation issue. I would still sooner vote Marxist-Leninist than Green- Quebecers of the world unite!
No, I don't envy New Democrats in Quebec and the tough choice that they have to make today. Just keep in mind my Québécois brothers and sisters, if the ADQ wins a majority, we have plenty of room for you all out west.
14 hours ago
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16 comments:
1) vote QS
2) rally people of similar minds together
3) put the pressure on QS to lose the separatist aspects of their platform. This could mean resolutions at a convention, etc.
4) put in place a resolution to adopt the NDP's Sherbrook declaration
5) put forward a resolution to seek inclusion within the NDP (I think it'd be cool if QS kept their name and operating uniqueness, too!)
The Quebec Greens are certainly not more progressives than their federal counterparts. Their leader's said, in his profile on the CBC website that "Extreme left-wingers won't find a lot in our party that resonates with them. If we only oppose everything, like Québec Solidaire, we won't get far. We're not looking for confrontation. We want to solve problems." (http://www.cbc.ca/quebecvotes2007/
parties/mckay.html)
Just last week, in a press conference along with Elizabeth May, he was extremely condescending to progressives by stating "We haven't diluted our message with a grocely list of words ending with -ism", like feminism, socialism or progressivism. (http://quebec2007.canoe.ca/infos/
quebeccanada/quebec2007/archives/
2007/03/20070323-145441.html)
Make no mistake: they're conservatives.
Wow. Thank you for that Guy. I, admittedly, do not pay much attention to the Green Party, provincially or federally. Good to know.
socialism (or social democracy, if you're so inclined...) has become increasingly irreconcilable with federalism, especially in the Quebec context.
social democracy = big spending
big spending = badgering Ottawa for more cash
badgering Ottawa for more cash = shortchanging other provinces
this was why Libby Davies, whom i'm sure you know more about than me, insinuated that the Conservative budget shortchanged BC to the benefit of Quebec.
Steve,
Social democracy is not irreconciliable with federalism. It is, however, irreconciliable with opportunistically crass Conservatives who are trying to buy seats in Quebec. If the budget has shortchanged BC, and I'm inclined to think it has, you have to blame that crass opportunism and not Quebec, nor social democracy.
so Guy if you're premier of Quebec you would shower Quebec with untold riches (in the form of government programs in welfare, health care, education, other social services, and so on, i suppose?) but NOT badger Ottawa for more cash at the expense of other provinces? how are you going to pull that off?
Steve is trying to put out a bushism of - you are with me or against me crap.
Considering that the PQ is not going to get a majority, if I was a social democrat I might throw my vote that way, as the other 2 choices are right, and more right. if the QS had gone into this election without the seapratist aspect, I would have voted for them, however, it doesn't look like they have much chance of winning any seat.
although i don't necessarily take bogeyman invocations of G W Bush as an insult, i do want to say that i hope i haven't caused any more negative feelings than our fundamental disagreements would otherwise necessitate (GO MARIO DUMONT! - sorry >:D). i just came here to poke fun at you merry band of Social Democrats (tm). you merry band of Social Democrats (tm), you.
I don't really understand what you're talking about: when the Quebec government make a choice to provide services in areas where we witness market failures like, say, health and education, are tantamount to showering Quebec with untold riches? And when Quebec tries to force Ottawa to respect its funding commitments in health and education, after the latter cut everything by 40% in 1995, it's called badgering Ottawa?
I'm not fond of the fiscal imbalance talk, but the lack of federal funding affects all provinces, not just Quebec. If Quebec is showered with money that can't be accessed by BC, blame Stephen Harper's cold calculating mind, not Quebec's demands.
No problem Erin... and congrats for the great blog!
Thanks for the informative post and comments. I agree with Guy...a great blog!
if you're "not fond of the fiscal imbalance talk" then i will speak no more of it Guy. suit yourself.
but hey, those of you who don't already know about it have got to read this!
(relevant parts reproduced here)
The huge increase in support for Mario Dumont's ADQ in last night's Quebec election is a lesson for all political parties, says New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton.
"I've listened to what ordinary Quebecers are saying during this election and it seems to me a lot of them are saying that they feel that governments are not paying attention to the needs of their families and they're upset about it and they want to send a message that they feel like they're getting left behind."
Although the ADQ is generally seen as a party to the right of centre, speaking to reporters yesterday afternoon, Layton said the sentiment among Quebec voters that is fuelling support for the ADQ could auger well for the NDP.
Jack Layton's flexibility knows no bounds!
Steve,
Jack has actually a point, even though you have to be connected to the Quebec society to see it. The ADQ vote was far from monolithic. Some of it was from ideologically conservatives, who lost their Union nationale/Crédit social home when the electoral debate switched from the progressive/conservative axis to a federalist/sovereignist one.
But most of the new support the ADQ found was not necessarily conservative, and coming from individual and families who admitted not knowing the ADQ platform, but were seduced by the fact that he was making the families the centre of his speeches. The same voters were usually the ones who also admitted to be tired of the constitutional wrangling and the ADQ was the only party who seemed neutral in this matter, regardless of the vagueness of the concept of "autonomism".
So Jack Layton's insight is actually pretty much on the ball when you're looking at it on a different perspective than the left/right spectrum.
whereas i was led to believe, from the original premise of this blog entry, that the left-right spectrum was the first and foremost factor governing the hallowed ballot decision, it's - refreshing - to see a less traditional approach.
Dipper Chick, I'm from Quebec and I was involved in left wing politics for a couples of years now. While I agree with most of your post, I wonder were you got that the QS membership was often more "pur et dur" than PQ's. People in QS see independance as a tool to bring foward more left policies, while it is a discutable strategy, QS partisans are really open-minded too immigrants and don't fight to impose Quebec's culture.
The PQ is more or less like the federal Liberals, they definitly campaign as "left" and even if they sometime push some progressive policies when they form the government most of their policies are right.
Now I saw many blogs about canadian politics praising the fact that theses elections shows the end of the separatist movement in Quebec. This is definitly a great mistake. The debat around reasonnable accomodation in Quebec boosted ADQ performance... because ADQ vowed to fight against them (and to listen to some of ADQs candidates to fight immigration as well).
I heard often people from Canada saying that independance idea was by nature racist, now what theses people don't realize is that it is this kind of nationalism which lays in ADQ... After all what will happen if the ADQ face refusal from the federal on private health care, on constitutional reform, on tax transfer or anything else? Let me assure you that nationalism in Quebec is stronger than ever and more rigth than ever... Scary
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