By Roger Annis
August 21, 2012–The televised debate between the leaders of the four leading parties in the Quebec election two nights ago was what one would expect–a display of how bourgeois elections obscure fundamental class issues and interests. But something new and different was afoot; it can rightfully be called historic. For the first time in recent Canadian history (to my recollection, since the reading of the FLQ Manifesto on national radio in 1970), a distinct, working class voice and program was aired and then discussed and analyzed before an audience of millions of people. (The population of Quebec is 8 million). I refer to the participation of Québec solidaire co-leader Françoise David in last night’s debate.
David’s prepared remarks for the opening and closing of the debate were moving calls for a society of social justice and of respect and harmony with the natural environment. It was very satisfying to see and hear this aired before hundreds of thousands of viewers and listeners.
David’s was the only voice in the debate to make a case for an independent Quebec. She stressed that this “societal project” must have meaningful social content. Her contributions during the course of the two hour debate–on health care, education, care for the elderly, ecology and full employment policy–spelled out what a future Quebec could resemble. Independence, she said, must be “in favour of the 99 percent.”
On the morning after the debate, David was out meeting commuters at a subway stop in her electoral district in Montreal, just down the street from where I am staying. People were at times lined up to congratulate her on her performance in the debate.
There were important weaknesses in the QS performance. The most glaring concerned the student struggle and associated social uprising over the past six months. David referred to it only once. She made no reference to Law 12 (Bill 78). (Of course, the other three parties avoided the issue entirely.) This was a missed opportunity to lash out hard against Premier Charest and to challenge Parti québécois leader Pauline Marois to repeal Law 12 and cancel Charest’s tuition fee hike should she be elected (as polls as well as David’s own assertion during the debate indicate will be the case). Students who spoke to television news expressed their disappointment that their struggle was barely mentioned in the debate; they expected it to be front and center.
Note that both David and Khadir wore the red square symbol of the student struggle during the evening (Khadir figured prominently in the televised commentary of the debate before and after its broadcast).
David neglected to mention the party’s proposal for a public pharmacare program and its proposals to raise income taxes on corporations and wealthy individuals. Although she spoke against Charest’s proposed “Plan Nord” to expand the pillaging of resources in the north of the province, she did not do so in the name of the Indigenous peoples who are opposing the plan. She made no reference to Indigenous people during the evening. Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois commented on this in one of his Tweets during the debate (being read by tens of thousands of followers).
I am not close enough to the political situation in Quebec to offer an informed comment on these absences on David’s part. No doubt, some can be chalked up to lessons learned.
I wanted to hear Québec solidaire describe how the laws and institutions of capitalist politics and economy exclude ordinary people from meaningful participation in public life. It’s true that David made the democratic case for proportional, electoral representation, but I don’t consider that this proposal would fundamentally alter the democratic deficit under capitalism.
All this said, Françoise David’s appearance in the debate is something to celebrate right across Canada. It’s the result of the years of hard work of the members of Quebec solidaire since the foundation of the party in 2006.
Other Quebec election news
More and more commentators are speaking of a two-way race emerging in this election, but not between the PQ and Liberals. There is a growing body of opinion that the right-wing Coalition avenir Quebec (CAQ) can capture enough of the pro-federalist, Liberal Party vote on September 4 to relegate that party to third place and possibly hold the PQ to minority government status. CAQ leader François Legault, a cabinet minister under previous PQ governments, opened the door to capturing more of the federalist vote when he announced early in the campaign that he had changed opinion on Quebec sovereignty and would vote “no” in the event of a future referendum on the subject.
It’s still too early to say how precipitous is the decline of the Liberal vote. Post-debate polls will tell a clearer story. If true, a sharp Liberal decline would be a welcome surprise in the campaign. Charest’s performance in the debate Sunday night and in the one-on-one debates between Liberals-PQ-CAQ to take place this coming week on a private television network (from which Québec solidaire is excluded) are unlikely to improve the Liberals’ fortunes. His debate performances were one of the Liberals’ few hoped-for aces in the hole, especially when the decision last week by CEGEP students to suspend their strike during the election campaign weakened the “law and order” plank in the Liberal platform.
also on August 19, Amir Khadir slammed the major environmental groups in Quebec for refusing to conduct a public examination of the environmental programs of the six largest parties–Liberal, PQ, CAQ, Québec solidaire, Option nationale and the Parti vert (Green Party). He told a rally of some 60 party supporters in the Richelieu Valley (south of Montreal) that two groups in particular, Équiterrre and the RNCREQ, were holding back out of fear that they will suffer cuts in funding by whichever of the dominant parties or combination thereof forms the next government. He calls the threat of such funding cuts as well as any acquiescence to it a serious threat to democracy.
The Richelieu Valley has been the site of important protests by farmers and other local residents against proposed natural gas fracking.
During the party leaders’ debate yesterday, PQ leader Pauline Marois spoke favorably of offshore oil drilling proposals for the Lower St. Lawrence River, near Anticosti Island, and the Gulf of St. Lawrence, near the Magdelan Islands. She spoke favorably of the offshore oil industry that she observed during a recent visit to Norway. Her answer to a question put to her about the mining and export of asbestos in Quebec was a deliberate muddle. Quebec solidaire calls for a ban on asbestos mining, production and export, and it says no fossil fuel extraction projects should be allowed. (Presently, there is no fossil fuel production of significance in Quebec).
University students are voting this week on whether to suspend their strike. Early returns are showing some departments voting to suspend the strike and others to continue it. Classes at the strike-bound universities that were suspended last May are due to resume next week.
Tomorrow, August 22, is a day of mass protest in Montreal of the student movement and its allies.
