Quebec election: No separation...for now

by Kaitlin | March 26, 2007 at 03:25 pm

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*UPDATE*: The results are in, and Quebec has its first minority gov't in over a century. The Liberals edged out Dumont's ADQ party, leaving Boisclair's PQ (and the separatist movement) out in the cold...for now. Minority governments are unstable at best (see also: our Federal gov't). The results are a definitive slide to the political right in Quebec.

Check out the great photos coming in; they really set a scene for you NPers outside of Quebec who might be interested in the political climate there. We'll watch the results and let you know how things turn out; it's one of the first provincial elections in awhile in which the race is up for grabs by anyone.

It seems that every time Quebec undergoes a provincial election--as they are today--there are two distinct political directives: strengthen Quebec, or sever it. This time around there's an interesting vocal third party in the ADQ (Action Democratique du Quebec). The ADQ have been around for a few years--the party was formed in 1994--but this campaign is the first time that they have posed a formidable threat to the province's two other parties.

What this means to the separatist cause remains to be seen. Although the ADQ and its leader Mario Dumont have sided with the separatist/sovereignty cause before, Dumont has said that he has no interest in siding with the PQ on the issues this time.

The sovereignty question was not front and centre in a campaign coloured by widespread dissatisfaction with the Liberals' four-year record and questions about Mr. Boisclair's leadership qualities. Mr. Boisclair's inability to connect with Quebecers meant that his promise to hold a referendum "as soon as possible" after being elected was not taken too seriously by federalists.

In the campaign's final days, however, both Mr. Boisclair and Mr. Charest tried to solidify their support by returning to the question that has framed Quebec elections for more than 30 years.