PQ Leader Pauline Marois delivers her opening speech during the party's general council meeting on Jan. 27, 2012, in Montreal.
The Parti Québécois will vote this Sunday on a proposal to allow for a citizen-led referendum on issues such political independence as a means to win back the support of disaffected sovereigntists.
A survey by the polling firm Léger Marketing showed that while 43 per cent of respondents backed sovereignty, support for the PQ remained at 25 per cent, an 18 point gap which the party said needs to be narrowed in order to have any chances of winning the next election.
For some party members, allowing citizens the right to initiate a referendum on sovereignty may help regain the confidence of those who question Pauline Marois' desire to achieve independence which has been at heart of a recently failed putsch against her leadership.
"This won't be enough for the Parti Québécois to win back the confidence it sabotaged with the Quebec population in recent months but it is part of what has to be done," said PQ MNA Stéphane Bergeron.
The proposal was sponsored by PQ caucus member Bernard Drainville who argued that the time has come to allow people the right to petition for a referendum regardless of the issue at hand. For example Mr. Drainville said that if a citizen-led referendum had been adopted in law, voters could have initiated much earlier a public inquiry into alleged corruption in the construction industry, which Premier Jean Charest's government took more than two years to appoint.
But the most important issue that needs to be decided by citizens is Quebec sovereignty, Mr. Drainville argued.
"As Quebecers we must decide whether the day has come to hold a referendum on sovereignty. The PQ can decide it but we must also give that right to citizens. It allows for a second option and we would be crazy to reject it," Mr. Drainville said.
The proposal that will be put to a vote on Sunday before the more than 400 delegates at a PQ party weekend meeting would also leave it to the legislators and the province's chief electoral officer to consult voters before defining the terms and conditions for holding citizen led referendums.
In the past, Ms. Marois has opposed allowing citizen-led referendums. But her leadership has been put to the test on several occasions in recent months and she has since reconsidered her position.
Ms. Marois thwarted efforts recently by dissenters in the party who wanted to remove her in favour of former Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe. Ms. Marois may have re-enforced her leadership but the in-fighting has crippled the party and tarnished its image.
The Léger Marketing poll published by Le Devoir and the Montreal Gazette on Saturday placed the party leader in third place in the popularity race among major party leaders. When asked who would make the best premier, the head of the newly formed Coalition Avenir Québec, François Legault was supported by 25-per cent of respondents compared to 19-per cent for Mr. Charest and 15-per cent for Ms. Marois.
The CAQ also leads in popular support with 35-per cent ahead of the Quebec Liberal party at 26-per cent, just one percentage point more than the third place PQ.
With a disapproval rating of 72-per cent and support among the crucial francophone voters staggering at 18-per cent, the Liberals face major obstacles as Premier Charest gauges when to call the next election. The last election was held in December 2008 and the other parties anticipate Mr. Charest could call an election sometime this year as early as next spring.
While Liberal support remained concentrated in predominantly anglophone and ethnic ridings, the Léger Marketing poll showed the CAQ had 36 per cent of the francophone vote and the PQ 30 per cent. Both parties are battling for support especially in the voter-rich ridings around the island of Montreal, fully aware that the predominant francophone vote would determine the outcome of at least 80 of the 125 ridings.
The CAQ has built its base of support by calling on Quebec nationalists, tired of the federalist-sovereigntist divide, that the time has come to put sovereignty on the backburner along with calls for renewed federalism. Poll have shown that around 40-per cent of those who support the CAQ are sympathetic to sovereignty. The PQ strategy, including launching an offensive against Stephen Harper's "right-wing proposals" to transform Canada, has been directed at winning back those who have left the party ranks.
The PQ was still stinging over the lost of seven MNA's since last summer when divisions within the party were exposed in full public view. When three of them joined the ranks of the CAQ the PQ was determined to make it more difficult for MNA's to defect to another party. PQ delegates will be asked to vote on a proposal that would require renegade MNA's to seek re-election in a by-election or sit in the National Assembly as independents.
"People don't like renegades," said long-standing PQ MNA François Gendron. "It is important to restrict how this is done."
Debate over some of the motions on Saturday underscored the fractions still lingering within the party, but they have largely subsided under Ms. Marois' insistence that in order to prepare for the next election campaign the party has no choice but to unite.