Québec solidaire (QS) “hears the dissatisfaction” of part of its militant base with respect to Bill 96 on the reform of the Charter of the French language. The party pledged on Saturday to remove the six-month deadline imposed on immigrants and to “recognize [ra] officially a special status” for indigenous languages, if he is brought to power.
Gathered in a national council one last time before the October elections, the activists of the left-wing party voted on a joint emergency proposal, in which the party denounces certain provisions of the text of the law. According to a handful of QS members, the parliamentary wing was wrong to vote in favor of the reform of “Bill 101” proposed by the Coalition avenir Québec.
“I think we fell into the trap” by supporting a bill that “attacks immigrants and indigenous peoples in particular”, hammered an activist, Hélène Bissonnette, Saturday morning.
“The only message we [leur] sends is that we are ready to step on their feet,” she said. Another member, Sam Boskey, “finds it very disappointing that no one thought it was worth consulting” with grassroots activists before deciding.
QS Bonaventure candidate Catherine Cyr Wright said she was “disappointed” with the party’s support for the bill. David Touchette, spokesperson for Québec solidaire Montréal, said he showed up at the demonstration against Bill 96 with his party badge, and strongly denounced his party’s position.
“Political maturity”
On Saturday, QS co-spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois wanted to make amends, even if “Law 96” contains “several proposals that comply [au] program” of the party for the protection of the French language. “We hear the fears, we hear the discontent,” said the elected official, who filed the emergency proposal.
The motion, adopted by a majority of solidarity activists, “denounces the Quebec government’s refusal to follow up on the claims of indigenous peoples in terms of language”. In the days leading up to the passage of the legislation, many communities urged the government to back down – or exempt First Nations from the provisions of the law. Without success.
The solidarity proposal also confirms the following electoral commitment: if QS accedes to the government, it will modify the law to remove the articles which oblige newcomers to communicate in French with the State after six months. “It’s an act of political maturity,” party president Alejandra Zaga Mendez told activists.
In a press briefing on Saturday afternoon, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois “took note of the discomfort” of some of the solidarity activists. “What is important to me is that we unite behind this commitment to correct the errors of Bill 96,” he told reporters.
Reconciling the positions of members in solidarity with the parliamentary wing is a “constant challenge”, agreed the parliamentary leader of QS. In 2019, the State Secularism Act caused a stir in the rallies of the left-wing party, which finally decided to break with the Bouchard-Taylor compromise to condemn any ban on religious symbols.
Will QS lose feathers?
Four months before the October election, the national council of Québec solidaire opens – with a CAQ convention and a PQ rally – the election season. Despite the stagnation of the opposition parties in the polls, Québec solidaire will not suffer any loss, assures Mr. Nadeau-Dubois.
In the press scrum on Saturday, he even spoke of “gains”. “Four years ago, the mathematical models that today give us fewer seats gave us four. We elected ten,” observed the MP for Gouin.
“We are going to make gains in the next elections, I am deeply convinced of that,” he added, without setting any quantified objectives.
As during the solidarity convention in November, Mr. Nadeau-Dubois spoke of his party as the “alternative” to the Coalition avenir Québec. “I think we have a chance to outplay anyone. We don’t go to the campaign saying to ourselves: “we will come third”, “he said.
Poll aggregation site Qc125.com projects that QS will lose two seats this fall. In the riding of Rouyn-Noranda–Témiscamingue, MNA Émilise Lessard-Therrien is far from sure of keeping her seat, according to data from the website.