Prime Minister François Legault recently declared on June 18 that losing a third referendum would be irresponsible and that it would weaken Quebec’s balance of power against Ottawa. The next day, he named Henri-Paul Rousseau to Quebec’s first diplomatic post, that of Quebec’s general delegate in Paris.
What connection is there between these two events? To understand this, I will be allowed to recall facts dating back to 1980, during the first referendum officially called on April 16, 1980 and to be held on the following May 20.
Two weeks before the referendum organized at the initiative of the Parti Québécois (PQ) government of René Lévesque, the polls showed the two camps neck and neck while emphasizing that, among the undecided, the No enjoyed a lead overwhelming, which boded very badly for the Yes vote.
A group of Quebec economists for Yes then designated me as their spokesperson during a press conference held on the morning of May 13, 1980, in Montreal. It must be said that a year earlier, I was president of the Association of Quebec Economists.
In the afternoon, former Prime Minister Robert Bourassa called me to find out if our group had presented a text during the press conference. This was not the case. At the same time, in Quebec, the office of Prime Minister René Lévesque decided to imitate us and organize for the next day, in Quebec, a second press conference of an association of economists for Yes. Henri-Paul Rousseau was then appointed as his spokesperson. If I was a professor at the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM), he was at Laval University.
We know the brilliant career of Henri-Paul Rousseau who followed: vice-president of the National Bank in 1986, secretary of the Bélanger-Campeau commission in 1990, CEO of the Laurentian Bank in 1994, president and CEO of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec appointed by Prime Minister Bernard Landry in 2002, moving to the very liberal and federalist Power Corporation in 2009, then retirement in 2017.
What message does the recent appointment of Henri-Paul Rousseau send? In other words, which of the Henri-Paul Rousseaus is going to Paris: the sovereignist, the protégé of the Desmarais family, the secretary of the Bélanger-Campeau commission or the new friend of François Legault?
Few representatives of Quebec abroad will have more to say and do, not so that a third referendum takes place or not, but rather so that this referendum results in a success (rather than a failure) and on the sovereignty. Without the discreet or official support of France, this dream will be more difficult to realize. With this support, the chances of resounding success will be maximum.
In his new role, may my economist colleague remember the press conference he held in Quebec on May 14, 1980, when he was young. I wish it for all of us.