Singh OK with Quebec sovereignty candidate

LONGUEUIL, QUE. • NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said his party is happy to welcome Quebec sovereigntists into its ranks, as the seemingly dormant independence question resurfaced on the campaign trail Monday.

Singh was questioned on the issue as he announced environmentalist Eric Ferland will be his party’s candidate for the Quebec riding of Longueuil-Saint-Hubert, south of Montreal.

The announcement added a strange twist to the feud between federal New Democrats and Greens, who have been locked in a fierce battle for third place in public opinion polls as each seeks to attract progressive voters unhappy with the governing Liberals and worried about climate change.

Not only is Ferland a former leader of Quebec’s Green party, but the incumbent in the riding is former NDP MP Pierre Nantel, who defected to the Greens shortly before the election call.

In addition to switching parties, the two have something else in common: they’re both sovereigntists who have advocated for Quebec independence, either currently or in the past.

THE SUBJECT OF SOVEREIGNTY IS NOT EVEN ON THE TABLE RIGHT NOW.

While support for Quebec separation is polling low on voters’ lists of priorities, a number of candidates have had to answer questions about their pasts as sovereigntists after deciding to run for federalist parties.

When asked about his past association with Quebec’s sovereignty movement, Ferland said he’s a federalist for the moment but could not rule out promoting Quebec independence in the future.

“The subject of sovereignty is not even on the table right now, it’s far away, I see it’s not moving forward so I prefer to work on things that move us forward,” he said.

In Longueuil-Saint-Hubert alone, at least three federalist party candidates have separatist pasts.

The Liberal party is running former Parti Québécois minister Réjean Hébert. The former provincial health minister has renounced sovereigntism, saying Quebecers don’t want another referendum.