The True, Unforgettable Face of Quebec Separatism

Parti Quebecois forever awaiting the next crisis

Parti Quebecois leader Pauline Marois was forced to do some damage control yesterday, as she insisted that the Parti Quebecois would not make a move to provoke a national unity crisis in its bid to separate Quebec from the rest of Canada.

This follows comments by Jacques Parizeau, the old warhorse of the Quebec sovereigntist movement, insisting that "to bring about sovereignty, there has to be a crisis. Clearly, a referendum on a specific subject can create a crisis."

These comments certainly don't bode well for Marois, whose recently-revealed four-point plan for Quebec sovereignty includes calling referendums on the repatriation of various from the federal government.

Quebec's Liberal Premier, Jean Charest, took full advantage of Parizeau's comments.

"The real intention of the Parti Québécois is to provoke a crisis, to harm Quebec," Charest insisted. "It is unacceptable. It would hurt Quebec. We will expose it."

Recent polls have suggested that a crisis would be necessary just to make sovereignty seem feasible to Quebeckers. A recent Angus-Reid poll determined that 74% of Quebeckers felt that Quebec's chances of attaining sovereignty were slim to none.

To make matters worse for Marois and Parizeau, only 28% of polled Quebeckers stated that they wanted independence for Quebec.

Perhaps of the two prayers for Quebec sovereigntism, increased autonomy (favoured by another 30% of Quebeckers) and a crisis, the former would be more fruitful than the latter. Marois seems to have a sense of this, with a sovereignty plan that would try to hedge increased autonomy into an increased fervour for independence.

That is what makes the Parti Quebecois more dangerous than ever -- that Pauline Marois has finally realized that it's the Quebec preference for autonomy and de-centralization that could get Quebeckers thinking about sovereignty again.

Jacques Parizeau may be good for reminding Quebeckers -- in fact, all Canadians -- about the true face of the Pari Quebecois.

The true face of the Parti Quebecois is not that of a progressive political party. It's that of a retrograde borderline-revolutionary party founded on a racial ideology.

Pauline Marois may want Quebeckers to forget this. Sadly for her, Jacques Parizeau could never allow them to.


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