François Legault appeared to stumble the other day when asked whether he would never call a new sovereignty referendum if elected premier of Quebec. "Absolutely," he replied, then confused the issue by adding: "Certainly not in a first mandate."
This was before a speech to the Lévis chamber of commerce. Afterward he sought to clear the air, saying that for the remainder of his active political life he will not work to advance the sovereignist cause and if during that period he becomes premier he would not call for another referendum.
Legault, who is now 54 years old, projected that his active political life would probably extend no further than his 65th birthday. So if this is what he really means, that would mean no referendum for at least 10 years if he and his fledgling Coalition pour l'avenir du Québec take office. After that, it would be up to others than himself to revive the separatist movement and push for another referendum, if anyone were still so inclined.
Legault should take care to express himself clearly since, as a former sovereignist and leading figure in the Parti Québécois, he could be suspected of harbouring a hidden agenda. What he says matters, because after retiring from the National Assembly and quitting the PQ two years ago this month, he has re-emerged as a leading political player in the province with his new coalition of federalists and lapsed sovereignists like himself.
Almost from the time he burst back onto the scene last fall he has ranked at the top in public-opinion polls as Quebecers' preferred choice for premier. Now that it has been confirmed that he plans to launch a new party, the latest polls suggest that it would handily win power, even though he has neither candidates in place nor a party structure yet.
Legault has pledged that if elected he would devote his time to dealing with matters that fall under Quebec's jurisdiction, solving the province's education and health-care problems, paying down the provincial debt and encouraging a more dynamic entrepreneurial economy. Quebecers have indicated that this kind of action from their government is what they want, and it is plainly evident that it is what the province needs.
Legault left open the door to another sovereignty referendum at some distant date to be possibly mounted by a future generation. This might be a strategically clever position. While it is advisable to put sovereignist agitation on hold for some time, it would be foolish for Legault to say that the movement would not arise sometime in the future, considering how past predictions of sovereignty's demise have proven premature.
In this way, rather than professing a sudden and unlikely federalist conversion, he allows for the formation of a coalition of federalists and one-time sovereignists like himself who realize the pursuit of independence under present conditions is sterile and detrimental to Quebecers' well-being. While it might sound like weaseling to avoid saying whether one is federalist or sovereignist, it is wellestablished that francophone Quebecers of moderate nationalist persuasion, who are in the majority and whose votes a Legault party will need if it is to succeed, dislike being made to choose between Quebec and Canada.
There is no guarantee that such a coalition can work as Legault envisages it, but it surely offers a better alternative than the PQ, whose preoccupation in office would be pushing the separatist cause by fostering language tensions and constitutional strife.