A political charade is one way to describe the piece in the National Post this week identified as “an open letter written by Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon to Quebec’s English-speaking population.”
St-Pierre Plamondon starts off by gushing about how “we share something fundamental: a deep attachment to this nation.” Besides anglophones, it’s unclear whether the “we” he refers to are PQ members, sovereignists or francophones. Published in the National Post, his use of the term “nation” is also somewhat odd, as most readers would take it to mean Canada, while he undoubtedly meant the “Quebec nation.”
The initial thrust of St-Pierre Plamondon’s appeal is to remind us about how badly things have gone over the past eight years under the Coalition Avenir Québec government and how both linguistic communities share many of the same concerns.
He outlines the CAQ’s failures in many sectors, saying we deserve high-quality public services and individual financial well-being. His claim, however, that “many anglo Quebecers have told me they would vote for the Parti Québécois for the first time in their lives, simply because they agree with our stances on a vast majority of issues,” seems difficult to believe. What are their stances or solutions on these issues if they were to form the government in October? Their entire policy platform, the Livre bleu, is underpinned by the need to separate from the supposed suffocating grip of the Canadian federation. Notwithstanding the flimsy economic arguments in the Livre bleu, how will they govern in the interim while preparing the terrain for the divisive referendum that they’ve promised? If elected, will they constantly disagree or squabble with Ottawa to better justify an eventual Yes vote, thus unleashing even more instability during these volatile geopolitical times?
Also of note in the piece is that St-Pierre Plamondon chooses to ignore the Quebec Liberals, the typical refuge for anglo voters, focusing his criticism solely on the outgoing CAQ government — perhaps trying to cosy up, knowing how the community feels about the CAQ after eight years of its language and identity politics and legislation. That’s pretty audacious, though, considering that many of those harmful CAQ initiatives were deemed by the PQ as not having gone far enough.
St-Pierre Plamondon promises in the piece that “the country of Quebec that we are building is one where the rights of the historic English-speaking minority will be fully protected. Its institutions will continue to exist.” What does “fully protected” mean? Will he renounce any override clause in our charters of rights? His generosity, allowing our well-renowned institutions to continue to exist, is also quite touching.
Some contend that Quebec separation would give francophones a greater sense of security about their language to the point that the government could ease up on certain restrictions affecting the anglophone community. This, I believe, is terribly naive.
Geography doesn’t change. Quebec will always be surrounded in a predominantly English-speaking North American continent. The ever-intensifying presence of English through business, streaming, social media and other digital platforms will not disappear with Quebec independence. These continued pressures could lead to governments grasping for excuses and potentially clamping down further in the need to fight back against English.
The PQ is still leading in the latest polls, but its vote is potentially fluid. To win, it must consolidate the francophone vote, and this op-ed in the National Post may be more about lulling the rest of Canada into a false sense of security with the possibility of a referendum looming, and a reassurance for francophones here that the perception of potential disunity and upheaval if they elect the PQ will be limited.
St-Pierre Plamondon sums up with: “The real ballot question this upcoming October is who can form a good government for Quebec: a competent government, an honest government, a government prepared to tell the truth about the challenges we face.”
Anglophones aren’t naive. Smoke and mirrors will not have us overlook the consequences on our community of the dismantling of the Canadian federation that the PQ proposes. All Quebecers should be wary.
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Robert Libman is an architect and planning consultant who has served as Equality Party leader and MNA, mayor of Côte-St-Luc and a member of the Montreal executive committee.