The Parti Québécois’ internal tussles about how fast to go in the pursuit of sovereignty are one of Canadian politics’ great recurring storylines. It would be easy to write off the resignations from the PQ caucus of four Members of the National Assembly as just another family quarrel – but they illustrate a deeper political problem, one facing the entire Quebec political class.
The departing MNAs are apparently unhappy with the unwillingness of their Leader, Pauline Marois, to set a timetable for a sovereignty referendum. They also bristled at her support for a bill that would prohibit lawsuits involving an untendered, $400-million (much of it public money) contract for a prospective professional hockey arena in Quebec City.
But the PQ appeared to be in good shape – leading the polls, with Ms. Marois having won 93-per-cent support from party members in a recent leadership review. The Liberals and Jean Charest, meanwhile, remain unpopular after scandals and allegations of scandal. So what explains Ms. Marois’ weakness?
It could be that the old solutions – sovereignty and pork-barrel politics – no longer have the appeal they used to. The declining fortunes in Quebec of Gilles Duceppe and Stephen Harper, and the rise of Jack Layton and the NDP, show this. So, too, do the charismatic politicians in Quebec today, none of whom is a major player in provincial politics. In addition to Mr. Layton, those who have caught Quebeckers’ attention include Amir Khadir, the socialist-sovereigntist leader of the fourth party, Québec Solidaire, and François Legault, a former Parti Québécois minister, who is a co-founder of a movement (Coalition pour l’avenir du Québec) that is not yet a political party, but leads some polls in which it is presented as an election option.
In each case, those on the ascent are the people, parties and movements offering something different to speak to Quebec’s significant public-policy challenges – especially the parlous state of its public finances and its continuing struggle to define its place inside Confederation. While support for, or opposition to, sovereignty is still one of the main organizing principles of the party system, Quebeckers themselves are looking for much more than that.