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QUEBEC — The Parti Québécois is on a crusade to rekindle public interest in Quebec independence, with party Leader Pauline Marois proposing to launch a new manifesto for sovereignty next fall.
Enthusiasm for sovereignty has steadily dwindled in recent months, with support dropping well below 40 per cent in recent public opinion polls. The time has come, Ms. Marois said Friday, to fight back by generating new interest in the sovereignty movement.
“I agree that we don't necessarily sense a great deal of effervescence for this issue right now. However, I am telling you that we will not lay down our arms with regards to defending Quebec's interest and in promoting our project to create a country,” Ms. Marois said in a news conference at party headquarters in Montreal.
Should the PQ form the next government, Ms. Marois said, her party will govern Quebec as a nation, not a province. That means all “necessary measures” will be taken to protect Quebec's identity, including the French language and culture, and to ensure that Ottawa respects Quebec's jurisdictions.
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“I will also table a new Bill 101 [Quebec's language law] to better protect our French language,” the PQ Leader said.
At a party meeting last March, members adopted Ms. Marois's platform, which eliminates the commitment to hold a referendum on sovereignty should the PQ form the next government.
Since then, the PQ has been accused within the sovereignty movement of abandoning its option, and of simply wanting power.
Critics have said it is more concerned about gaining more autonomy for Quebec within Canada than achieving outright political independence.
A new separatist party, the Parti Indépendantiste, has since emerged and is competing with the left-wing Quebec Solidaire, another marginal party promoting sovereignty, for the support of disaffected PQ voters. Both could weaken Ms. Marois's base of potential supporters.
At the same time, the federalist forces in Quebec are arguing that sovereignty is dead.
In a book released this week, La Presse columnist Alain Dubuc urged the PQ to surrender its option to the new political reality.
“The time has come for sovereigntists to lay down their arms and abandon the fight in the way it has been fought for 40 years and modify the party program to adjust it to the political reality,” the author stated.
Ms. Marois scoffed, and insisted Friday that the fight is far from over. “This is not the idea of just a few people … This is the existence of a people,” Ms. Marois said. “This is an idea that doesn't die … It is who we are and that is what justifies the need to have our country.”
The PQ Leader invited all sovereigntists, regardless of their political affiliation, to come together in a non-partisan effort to promote sovereignty.
She asked them to contribute to the manifesto, which will serve as an updated tool to argue the case for sovereignty.
But some, such as members and supporters of the Parti Indépendantiste, are unlikely to join in Ms. Marois's crusade, because achieving sovereignty is still not part of her immediate agenda.
The manifesto will be completed in time for approval at the PQ party meeting in October. Ms. Marois will then tour the province as part of a campaign aimed at setting the stage for the next election.
