PQ speech `mired in resentment'
PSPP'S referendum talk criticized by opponents, for different reasons
The province's other political parties say they do not share Parti Québécois Leader Paul Stpierre Plamondon's pessimistic view of Quebec's future.
The Liberals are accusing Stpierre Plamondon of fear-mongering and using the same divisive tactics as former PQ leader Jacques Parizeau, who is famous for his comment about the 1995 referendum being lost because of “money and ethnic votes.”
But on Tuesday St-pierre Plamondon showed no signs of backing down from controversial comments he made at a PQ national council Sunday. In fact, after saying on the weekend that Canada wants to “erase” Quebec, he went further, adding the country has a colonial history of assimilation in which francophones were deported, executed and denied the right to a French education.
Quebecers need to be reminded of this, he said, insisting he is only telling it like it is.
Other parties, however, disagreed with his bleak assessment.
“We are not resigned like Mr. St-pierre Plamondon and we are taking concrete actions so Quebec can make progress (within Canada),” Coalition Avenir Québec house leader Simon Jolin-barrette told reporters.
“We are defending the interests of Quebec and are making concrete gains.”
Jolin-barrette mentioned Quebec's adoption of Bill 96 overhauling the Charter of the French Language, the existence of the Quebec nation being inserted in the Canadian Constitution, and ongoing talks with Ottawa
to reduce the number of temporary immigrants as examples of what Quebec can do now to protect its language and culture.
“The PQ'S approach is to wait for the big day (of independence) before acting,” Jolin-barrette told reporters at the legislature. “This is unfortunate, because we need to defend Quebecers on a daily basis, to ensure the Quebec state can fully occupy all its fields of jurisdiction.”
He said the CAQ is well aware of the dangers to the French language and culture.
“We are in a situation where we must be vigilant, and that is what the government of Quebec is doing,” he said.
“We protect (Quebec) every day. We are in a situation where we have to fight for our existence every day.
“That is something Quebecers have very well understood, and that is why Quebecers are proud of Bill 96 and Bill 21 (on state secularism) — because we defend their values. We always said we won't be asking anyone for the right to exist.”
Jolin-barrette was reacting to St-pierre Plamondon's speech that closed the PQ'S two-day national council Sunday in Drummondville.
The PQ leader said Quebec's adversary is clear: a federal government that denies Quebec's existence and “from now on is overtly and explicitly planning our decline.”
The only option, he argued, is another independence referendum, sometime before 2030. He said it will be Quebec's “ultimate” chance to prevent its language and culture from disappearing.
But on Tuesday, the other parties took turns criticizing St-pierre Plamondon's vision.
The other pro-independence party leader, Québec solidaire's Gabriel Nadeau-dubois, warned St-pierre Plamondon not to fall into the use of fear to advance the cause.
“Resentment, fear, catastrophism — I don't think that's the way we are going to reach youth, and that is one of our main challenges as a movement,” Nadeau-dubois told reporters at a news conference.
“I have no memory of a PQ leader with such a conservative speech,” he added. “It is attitude mired in resentment.”
Interim Liberal leader Marc Tanguay said he considered the speech “radical and disconnected from the priorities of Quebecers and disconnected from reality.”
He said St-pierre Plamondon has not demonstrated in any way that the federal government is actively planning the decline of Quebec.
Tanguay added his biggest fear is that St-pierre Plamondon and Premier François Legault might now indulge in a campaign of “identity one-upmanship” to see who can scare Quebecers the most for electoral reasons.
“They are planting a seed,” Tanguay said. “It reminds me of Jacques Parizeau's `us,' his `ethnic votes.' St-pierre Plamondon is banking on fear. He wants to divide us, as does François Legault.”
But arriving later to meet reporters, the PQ leader said he had no plans to nuance or back away from his statements.
“I'm not fearmongering, I am fact-checking,” a defensive Stpierre Plamondon told reporters. “What I say is actually verifiable.
“I actually want to add (comments about) what I consider an offensive charge against Quebec,” he said. “I attach the long history of Quebec in Canada and the sad story of francophones and First Nations in the original colonial regime. It all adds up.”
St-pierre Plamondon said Quebecers need to be aware of more recent violations of their rights, beyond the 1982 repatriation of the Constitution by Pierre Trudeau. He said historically francophones in Canada “experienced deportations, executions and saw a ban on their right to a French education.”
“The history of Canada is a history of assimilation. Francophones have been assimilated in all the provinces of Canada. Statistics Canada tells us that French is in decline, and that corresponds to the absence of co-operation on the part of the federal government when it comes to culture, immigration and official languages.
“It's intentional and Justin Trudeau is pursuing the work of his father, Pierre Elliott Trudeau. It's clear. So, no, I will not nuance my remarks. This is what I think.”