Quebec election

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Thoughts?

Sovereignty gets called into service

Liberals, PQ raise 30-year-old debate as campaign ends



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Parti Quebecois leader Andre Boisclair
Photograph by : Christinne Muschi, Reuters

Graeme Hamilton, National Post, with files from CanWest News Service


Published: Monday, March 26, 2007 DRUMMONDVILLE, Que. - Quebec Premier Jean Charest, fighting to hold onto power in today's election, warned yesterday that a minority government would hobble Quebec in its dealings with Ottawa and increase the chance of another referendum on sovereignty.


"It's no accident that Quebec has not had minority governments," the Liberal leader said on his last day of campaigning. "Quebecers know very well that a majority government is the only way for us to defend our interests and defend what we are."

Mr. Charest pounced on Parti Quebecois leader Andre Boisclair's suggestion on Saturday that Mario Dumont, leader of the Action Democratique du Quebec, could be enticed to campaign for independence with the Yes side -- as he did in 1995 -- if the PQ fails to win a majority.
"If the invitation was made, it was undoubtedly because Mr. Boisclair thought the door was open," Mr. Charest said, disregarding the fact that Mr. Dumont rejected Mr. Boisclair's overture on Saturday. "Mr. Dumont's ambiguity led Mr. Boisclair to make the gesture he made yesterday. Now there is a gesture that Quebecers can make together tomorrow: Those who don't want a referendum can vote Liberal."

The ADQ platform calls for Quebec to "affirm itself without separating," and Mr. Dumont has said he wants no part of Mr. Boisclair's plan to hold another referendum. On Saturday, Mr. Dumont likened the PQ leader to a "spoiled child in a high chair" who cannot take no for an answer. Yesterday, he said Mr. Boisclair was like a drowning man trying to pull someone down with him. "No, we do not want to go down with him," he said.

The attention paid to Mr. Dumont by the two other leaders speaks to the remarkable success of the ADQ campaign. A Leger Marketing poll published on Saturday in The Gazette gave the Liberals the support of 35%, the PQ 29% and the ADQ 26%. The poll is considered accurate to within plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times in 20. Those numbers would suggest a Liberal minority is the most likely result, but pollsters cautioned the outcome is hard to predict.

The sovereignty question was not front and centre in a campaign coloured by widespread dissatisfaction with the Liberals' four-year record and questions about Mr. Boisclair's leadership qualities. Mr. Boisclair's inability to connect with Quebecers meant that his promise to hold a referendum "as soon as possible" after being elected was not taken too seriously by federalists.

In the campaign's final days, however, both Mr. Boisclair and Mr. Charest tried to solidify their support by returning to the question that has framed Quebec elections for more than 30 years.

"Already Andre Boisclair is talking about forming his coalition, about starting up the Yes bus for the referendum and to get the same players who were there in 1995 on board the Yes bus," Mr. Charest said yesterday during a campaign stop in Sorel, Que. "My dear friends, we do not want a divided society, and neither do we want a weakened society. We want a government able to fight for Quebec interests."

Mr. Charest positioned himself as the man best able to exact more gains from the federal government. It was under his Liberals that Quebecers were recognized as a nation within Canada, was given a greater international role and received $2.3-billion in last week's federal budget to address the "fiscal imbalance," he said.

"We want to continue to affirm our leadership so we can continue to seek gains," he told reporters.

Quebec has not had a minority government since 1878, and Mr. Charest refused to entertain speculation on how a minority would work.
"We are going to win a majority government tomorrow, I am very confident of that," he said. "A minority government would weaken Quebec."

Mr. Boisclair also attacked Mr. Dumont, urging sovereigntists who might be considering the ADQ to think again.

"Voting for the ADQ means running the risk of getting stuck with Jean Charest as Premier of a Liberal government," he said, urging people to take the time to vote. "Taking five minutes to get rid of Jean Charest for five years seems to be quite a bargain tome."

Mr. Dumont accused the other two leaders of misrepresenting his position in a desperate bid to keep their jobs." The only coalition that will be judged tomorrow is the Liberal-PQ coalition against change," he said.
He said Mr. Charest was trying to distract attention from his own record: "He's telling Quebecers to look left and right, but tomorrow Quebecers will look Jean Charest in the eye and judge him for four years of broken promises, for four years of political gaffes and for four years of neglecting the most fundamental needs of his population."

© National Post 2007