Parizeau demands PQ push hard on sovereignty

Sun, 2013-03-03 14:22

Boom Boom

CBC is reporting that Parizeau is back, having communicated to Premier Marois and to her cabinet that sovereignty must be pushed hard now while the PQ is back in office.

I don't have an online link yet - still looking.

Perhaps Parizeau feels a twinge of desperation that PQ might lose power and wants this done before that happens. Who knows?

I haven't seen any polls in quite a while that would indicate support for sovereingty is rising.

Sun, 2013-03-03 14:57

#3

Boom Boom

CTV has it.

PQ should use public funds to promote sovereignty, Parizeau says

At the Option nationale meeting, Parizeau told a packed hall that the goal of Quebec independence remains attainable -- and that the PQ should be doing all it can to make it happen.

"For 15 years, I've heard successive leaders of the Parti Quebecois say, 'We will not use public funds to promote sovereignty,"' he said Saturday.

"Well, if you don't want to use public funds to promote sovereignty, why are you here?"

Sun, 2013-03-03 15:06

#4

lagatta

I get the feeling old Jacques is going a bit off the deep end.

I refuse to speculate on his mental health, because of his age (82), but the PQ has formed a minority government; they certainly don't have a mandate to use public funds to such an end.

However, he was right to say free tuition is possible from kindergarten to post-graduate; governments have to restore taxation of corporations and of wealth that they had renounced (and not only in Québec).

Sun, 2013-03-03 15:14

#5

Boom Boom

I actually think that if the PQ had a strong electoral mandate, which they don't have right now - then it would be perfectly reasonable for a Quebec government to use Quebec money for Quebec to promote its independence. But then the question of what is a "strong electoral mandate" would arise again, and the solution of course would be 50% plus one. Here we go again.

Maybe I should log off for a while.

Sun, 2013-03-03 16:15

#6

kropotkin1951

A strong electoral mandate i.e. a majority in a FPTP is less than 50%. The idea of a PQ government using an electoral mandate to spend money on their ideological goals is about as appealing as Harper doing the same thing for his.

Mind you Christy has taken government spending to promote her party to a new level not seen in Canada before and hopefully will be not seen again.

Sun, 2013-03-03 16:23

#7

Unionist

Parizeau supported a rival party (Option Nationale) during the September election. I don't believe his rousing of ON troops will have much effect on a minority PQ government.

It's a sad story. As lagatta mentioned, his stands on various questions of economic and social justice are far better than the Lucien Bouchard neoliberal trend which succeeded him and has haunted the PQ ever since. If only he could shed some of the other notions... Well, if not him, then maybe his followers.

Sun, 2013-03-03 18:04

#8

6079_Smith_W

I think the public money question is splitting hairs.

If there's a sovereignty campaign, sure it should be at arms length from the government of the day, but sovereignty is the central plank of the PQ. Regardless of other reasons why one might vote for the party, that, at least should be understood. Of course they are going to make policy and statements that are geared toward the ultimate goal of sovereignty, and the government of the day already has a great deal of power and resources, so public money is already being used. No one should think this is scandalous. It is a part of what many people voted for.

Let's not forget that opposition members also have funding to support them, and in past referenda there has also been funding and efforts from outside Quebec.

The only way in which I could see this as an issue is if the party was actually sabotaging the running of government or otherwise not acting in good faith in order to push sovereignty.

Sun, 2013-03-03 20:59

#9

Ken Burch

kropotkin1951 wrote:

A strong electoral mandate i.e. a majority in a FPTP is less than 50%. The idea of a PQ government using an electoral mandate to spend money on their ideological goals is about as appealing as Harper doing the same thing for his.

Mind you Christy has taken government spending to promote her party to a new level not seen in Canada before and hopefully will be not seen again.

She has promoted her party to a new level-but I don't think it's the level she WANTED to promote it to.