Globalist trend favours Quebec’s ruling Liberals

It’s no surprise most of Quebec’s largely nationalist political class kept its distance from France’s defeated far-right presidential candidate. France’s rejection of her Front national’s ultranationalist platform, however, will place some pressure on Quebec political parties to take sides in a fundamental debate shaking western democracies — one Marine Le Pen and nationalists are losing.

That debate centres on globalization; a lack of preparedness for it has sparked nativist movements denouncing the resulting job losses and economic disruptions.

It’s a futile debate for any forwardthinking person familiar with economics or history. Trade has been a staple of nearly all human civilizations, and a global economy is its natural end result.

Fringe activists might have been able to better resist and temporarily delay globalization in some western societies. But at this point, there is no undoing the phenomenon.

In France, globalization was a key election issue that president-elect Emmanuel Macron and the ultranationalist Le Pen clashed on throughout the campaign.

The French did well to choose Macron. Nationalists elsewhere are already starting to regret their illconceived power plays. Some Brexit proponents in the United Kingdom felt remorseful hours after the vote on leaving the European Union; U.S. President Donald Trump is coming to terms with reality, moderating tough stances on NAFTA and other pacts.

While anti-globalization movements may lack sophistication, they are attempting to cater to a generation of millennial voters across western nations who seem to be demanding more substantial arguments on issues like the decline of manufacturing or accessible postsecondary education.

Young Quebecers are disinterested in sovereignty, a tendency that does not bode well for nationalism more broadly; a diverse generation is demanding cultural and economic openness.

Quebecers are very different than the French, but much of their disproportionally nationalist political class refuses to acknowledge this, often taking cues from across the Atlantic, as with the Parti Québécois Charter of Values dress code.

It’s difficult to imagine the PQ or any sovereignty movement not being stuck on the wrong side of this issue.

There are liberal forces within the PQ’s tent that are favourable to international trade and open to the world in general; leader JeanFrançois Lisée was among them. But it is unclear if those forces will be able to rein in the media-fuelled nativism that nationalism produces.

Far-left Québéc solidaire leans sovereignist, moderately nationalist and has cemented itself in opposition to globalization.

The nationalist second opposition Coalition Avenir Québéc, doubling down on economic and cultural nationalism lately, imported a Le Pen talking point last August with fierce opposition to religious Muslim swimwear (the burkini). The CAQ is in muddy waters: Its cultural nationalism is evident, but its airlinefounding leader isn’t exactly the antiglobalist’s ideal advocate.

This leaves the ruling Liberals in the most advantageous position. They are led by a federalist premier who is favourable to bilingualism, moderate on economic nationalism and eager to attract international investment. Former leader Jean Charest was instrumental in Canada’s signing of a free trade agreement with Europe earlier this year.

When Quebecers are faced with these questions in the future, expect them to gravitate toward globalism, pushing nationalists and especially sovereignists to the fringes.