Libman: Quebec’s nationalist narrative gets a reality check at the ballot box
For the sovereignist and nationalist politicians and commentators who paternalistically believe they reflect the prevailing views of the population when it comes to issues of identity, immigration or Quebec’s relationship with the rest of Canada, Monday’s federal byelection result in Terrebonne came as a rude awakening.
The Liberal candidate, Tatiana Auguste, a Haitian immigrant to Canada in 2008, defeated her opponent from the separatist Bloc Québécois unequivocally in the traditionally nationalist stronghold northeast of Montreal that has consistently voted Bloc federally or Parti Québécois provincially in almost every election for decades.
Voters this time, however, sent a message that evidently contradicts the insular nationalist narrative that has underpinned Quebec politics in recent years — a narrative marked by:
- Debates of one-upmanship between the Coalition Avenir Québec government and the PQ opposition on the backs of minority communities, with the adoption of laws regulating the wearing of religious symbols, public prayer, integration of immigrants, and language.
- Railing against the federal government for its supposed incursions in Quebec’s jurisdiction. This includes nationalists ripping their shirts over Ottawa’s decision to intervene at the Supreme Court to question the repeated and pre-emptive use of the notwithstanding clause to override charter rights.
- The premier and others blowing a gasket when Marc Miller, the minister of Canadian Identity, Culture and Official Languages, said he was “fed up” with the politicization of the language debate.
- Nationalists losing their minds when Prime Minister Mark Carney suggested the aftermath of the 1759 Battle of the Plains of Abraham led to the resilience of francophones and the eventual creation of modern Canada.
- PQ Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, front and centre in the francophone media, condemning Carney and painting the federal system as a straitjacket that stifles Quebec’s development.
Despite all this, voters in Terrebonne opted for Carney’s candidate, another indication that Quebecers in these volatile times favour stability, unity and peaceful coexistence. The result should serve as a warning to those who divide and promote fear and distrust among citizens.
Having painted himself into a corner by holding firm on his pledge to hold another divisive referendum on independence if he’s elected, PSPP must have had trouble sleeping Monday night.
His lead in the polls for two years had been buoyed by the unpopularity of François Legault in his second mandate. Christine Fréchette, who has succeeded Legault as premier after winning the CAQ leadership, is considered more moderate on identity issues. The PQ has already published an ad making a pitch for disaffected nationalists in the CAQ to join them.
The CAQ will probably enjoy a Fréchette honeymoon bump in upcoming polls among more moderate francophone voters, which could eat into recent Liberal gains under Charles Milliard. But that may not last.
To avoid splintering the coalition, Fréchette has already started to play the nationalist identity card to appease the party’s harder-line flank, which largely supported her opponent, Bernard Drainville, for the leadership and includes popular Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette. Both have rallied to her, but assembling her cabinet, which she promised to reduce in size, will be a delicate balancing act.
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Fréchette may eventually alienate Jolin-Barrette if she doesn’t fully support swift passage of his pet project, his proposed Quebec constitution, which has proved very divisive among the population. But if she forges ahead with some of the unfinished business of the previous administration — such as pushing this controversial project — or repopulates the cabinet with too many former ministers, opponents will be quick to tarnish her with the residue of her predecessor’s unpopular reign.
Quebecers want to look forward with hope. Insular nationalism, harmful debates about identity and immigrants, rupture from Canada — this is not where their heads are right now, six months before the election.
The results in Terrebonne represent a refreshing change from what we’ve been fed over these last few years.
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