The Parti Québécois may become a breeding ground for radicalism, according to former party leader Lucien Bouchard. In his first critical assessment of the PQ in almost a decade, Mr. Bouchard also argued that Quebec sovereignty was nothing more than a dream that won't be achieved any time soon.
As part of a panel that debated the state of Quebec politics, Mr. Bouchard argued last night that some people in the PQ were much too "negative" and seemed to want to replace the Action Démocratique du Québec "as the niche for radicalism" in the debate over reasonable accommodation of religious communities.
"I don't like what I'm hearing from the Parti Québécois," Mr. Bouchard said. "There is a cultural majority in Quebec and that is us. But there are other people around us, about 10 or 11 per cent that have different religions and we need to make the necessary accommodations when it is needed."
He pointed to a number of unnecessary debates the PQ has fought including multiculturalism, religious symbols and the need to defend secular values, which he said were "exaggerated." Quebec society isn't being threatened by religious fervour, he insisted.
"I don't want the government to legislate against the burka and the veil," he said. "[Society doesn't] agree on these issues and a moratorium would certainly be welcomed," Mr. Bouchard said.
In fact, Quebec has no reason to be afraid of multiculturalism because it will never be a viable solution in Quebec, he said, so why bother fighting it. However, religious fundamentalism only poses a threat to Quebec society when it jeopardizes equal rights between men and women.
Mr. Bouchard urged Quebeckers to embrace common sense, an approach he said was also needed when tackling Quebec sovereignty.
The former PQ leader was convinced that, in the short term, Quebec sovereignty was not part of the province's political agenda. He noted that PQ Leader Pauline Marois has no plans to hold a referendum. He said more pressing issues such as education, university funding and generating wealth in the province needed to be addressed.
"I don't know what will happen 50 years from now. But I do know that Pauline Marois is not announcing a referendum, because it's not possible to hold one," Mr. Bouchard said.
He said he jumped head first into the 1995 referendum "not even checking if there was water in the pool."
He said Quebec came out weakened in the process. "There's no referendum in sight and I don't want to suffer another defeat. In the meantime, we have a lot to do."
He argued that had Jacques Parizeau followed his strategy, the outcome would have been different in 1995.
He proposed to hold two referendums, one to receive a mandate to negotiate sovereignty with the rest of Canada and another to ratify the deal.
"We would have won. I'm convinced," Mr. Bouchard said. "That's the ultimate goal, it's to win."
