Here today au revoir tomorrow: Quebec elects new government
The scandal-ridden Parti Québécois, led
by former Premier Pauline Marois, have
packed their bags and handed over the
proverbial keys to provincial Liberal Party
Leader Philippe Couillard. The Parti had
spent the week before the election frantically
denying illegal fundraising accusations
and trying to downplay their separatist leanings,
which were awkwardly cast into the
limelight by a PQ candidate.
Their efforts were to no avail as the party finished with fewer than half the number of seats held by the newly elected Liberal Party of Quebec.
This could be the beginning of the end for the Parti Québécois in la belle province. In Quebec's provincial politics, there's always been a very clear pattern of flip-flopping between the Liberal Party and the sovereigntist party of the day. Since the '70s the cycle has been on a nine-year loop with Liberal Leader Jean Charest leading the last provincial Liberal Party in Quebec from 2003 to 2012.
Prior to that the Parti Québécois was in power for nine years and before that the Liberals led the province from 1984 to 1995. This pattern continues on back to 1976, the year Rene Levesque and the newly formed Parti Quebecois first came to power after a Liberal government of only six years. Whether or not the results from April 7 are repeated the next time Quebecers head to the polls to elect a premier, Marois has the dubious honor of leading her party directly out of office faster than any Quebec premier in the history of the province. She was in power for 566 days.
Quebec's most staunch sovereigntist parties appear to have fallen out of favour during the most recent provincial election, but the same is true federally. The Bloc Québécois runs federally, and only in Quebec. In 2008, Quebec voted to give The Bloc 49 of 75 seats in the province, a definitive margin of over 30 seats more than the runner-up Liberal Party. Throw in some accusations of intolerance and misspending, and by the time the next election came around the people of Quebec decimated The Bloc, reducing them to a mere four seats, less than the required number to even form an official party.
Sovereignty for Quebec is an issue with a broad spectrum of strongly held opinions concerning it. The Liberal Party of Quebec deliberately postures itself as a moderate alternative to the culturally abrasive Parti Québécois.
In addition to their own base of support within the province any blunders by the Parti, and there were plenty, served to drive even more support for the Liberals. The sovereignty movement in Quebec will need to reinvent itself if there's to be any hope of achieving their ultimate goal of independence.
Whether they will even include the separatist element in their next campaign has yet to be seen since it alienates a growing minority of the province. The ultimate challenge facing both the Bloc Québécois and the Parti Québécois is how to reinvent themselves to represent issues that people actually care about again.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
Their efforts were to no avail as the party finished with fewer than half the number of seats held by the newly elected Liberal Party of Quebec.
This could be the beginning of the end for the Parti Québécois in la belle province. In Quebec's provincial politics, there's always been a very clear pattern of flip-flopping between the Liberal Party and the sovereigntist party of the day. Since the '70s the cycle has been on a nine-year loop with Liberal Leader Jean Charest leading the last provincial Liberal Party in Quebec from 2003 to 2012.
Prior to that the Parti Québécois was in power for nine years and before that the Liberals led the province from 1984 to 1995. This pattern continues on back to 1976, the year Rene Levesque and the newly formed Parti Quebecois first came to power after a Liberal government of only six years. Whether or not the results from April 7 are repeated the next time Quebecers head to the polls to elect a premier, Marois has the dubious honor of leading her party directly out of office faster than any Quebec premier in the history of the province. She was in power for 566 days.
Quebec's most staunch sovereigntist parties appear to have fallen out of favour during the most recent provincial election, but the same is true federally. The Bloc Québécois runs federally, and only in Quebec. In 2008, Quebec voted to give The Bloc 49 of 75 seats in the province, a definitive margin of over 30 seats more than the runner-up Liberal Party. Throw in some accusations of intolerance and misspending, and by the time the next election came around the people of Quebec decimated The Bloc, reducing them to a mere four seats, less than the required number to even form an official party.
Sovereignty for Quebec is an issue with a broad spectrum of strongly held opinions concerning it. The Liberal Party of Quebec deliberately postures itself as a moderate alternative to the culturally abrasive Parti Québécois.
In addition to their own base of support within the province any blunders by the Parti, and there were plenty, served to drive even more support for the Liberals. The sovereignty movement in Quebec will need to reinvent itself if there's to be any hope of achieving their ultimate goal of independence.
Whether they will even include the separatist element in their next campaign has yet to be seen since it alienates a growing minority of the province. The ultimate challenge facing both the Bloc Québécois and the Parti Québécois is how to reinvent themselves to represent issues that people actually care about again.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
