‘Fair share’ for Quebec, says new PQ leader

Ex-La Presse reporter strikes populist tone

MONTREAL • Canadians can breathe easier with the new Parti Quebecois leader, a pragmatic and wily politician who promises that if elected premier in 2018, he won’t hold a sovereignty referendum until at least 2022 — if ever.

And while the media attention surrounding JeanFrançois Lisée’s campaign and election — especially outside Quebec — was less intense than during the leadership period of predecessor Pierre Karl Peladeau, Canadians would be wise to take notice of the new PQ leader.

A former journalist, author and adviser to two separatist premiers, Lisée’s policies and approach to federalism provide a blueprint that helps explain Quebec’s shifting politics heading into the next decade.

Instead of considering Ottawa and its political denizens as enemies, Lisée says Quebec under his leadership would try to “get justice within the system.

“My message to Canadians is that we want to have our fair share,” Lisée said during an interview with The Canadian Press.

He’s a left-wing progressive with a trail of academic and news articles going back decades detailing his big-government proclivities. And he honed his English as the Washington correspondent for La Presse newspaper in the 1980s.

His oratory prowess is in the mould of iconic separatist leader Jacques Parizeau, who received a PhD from the London School of Economics.

“We feel we have differences that are quite important,” Lisée said about Quebec and Canada. “But the issue will not come to a head in the very near future, so we can get on with the business of trying to do the most with what we have.”

As Lisée’s position on a future sovereignty referendum reflects that of Quebec as a whole, his penchant for veering into identity politics to solidify popular support is also telling of where Quebec is going.

He is called “the daily tactician” by Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard, who says Lisée holds incoherent positions that flirt with the politics of the European far right. mood of the population.

Francois Legault’s Coalition for Quebec’s Future recently inscribed in its constitution that it is a party “whose primary objective is to ensure the development and the prosperity of Quebec as a nation within Canada.”

Legault’s party, like the PQ, isn’t afraid of targeting Islam or criticizing current immigration levels as a way to increase support.

Couillard in the past few months has started talking about “Islamism” and “radical Islam” in his speeches.

Pierre Anctil, a Canadian historian and University of Ottawa professor, says the changing political landscape away from sovereignty is largely due to young Quebecers being more globally focused than their parents and grandparents — and noticeably less interested in the agenda of language politics.

“By and large, people feel the situation is satisfying and there isn’t much more that can be obtained,” Anctil said, referring to the reality English is barely spoken outside the Montreal area. “I think the battle has been largely won.”

Neither Lisée nor Anctil, however, has any doubts when asked what they believe is the most serious issue threatening political stability in the country. Both answered TransCanada’s Energy East pipeline proposal.

“That’s the defining issue — the pipeline itself. That will be seen as unacceptable in Quebec,” Lisée said, leaving no illusions about the fact the PQ will use the project as a major wedge issue in order to drum up antifederalist sentiment in the province.

Energy East would bring what Lisée called “the most polluting oil in the world” from Alberta’s oilsands, through Quebec, to New Brunswick.

The 2018 fall election is still a political eternity away and the PQ and the Coalition will hope voter fatigue kicks in with regard to the Liberals, who have been in power all but two years since 2003.

Legault’s Coalition often polls within the margin of error of second place behind the Liberals.

“I think we are ushering in an age where the CAQ (Coalition) could have some serious options and become the ruling party,” he said.