Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois will probably succeed in ridding Québec solidaire (QS) of its image as a party of idealists. He now has the opportunity to make it a truly revolutionary party.
Most left-wing parties have a legacy of wanting to do battle with capitalism. The problem is that with the failure of communist economic planning, there is no alternative to the capitalist production system based on supply and demand for goods and services. The owners of the means of production took advantage of the confusion to install a political system which would be inseparable from the capitalist economic system and which would also be the most efficient.
The fundamental weakness of capitalism, namely competition that is far from perfect, has been trivialized. Furthermore, without regard to the theoretical humbug of a distribution of income linked to individual productivity, it is the balance of power, managed by the system, which determines the distribution of income. Economists have long concluded that it is the state that should be responsible for correcting these shortcomings of capitalism.
In reality, the role of the state was gradually minimized. For several decades, the parties in power in the West have accepted the political framework put in place by the business community. In Quebec, especially since 2003, governments have been outrageously biased in favor of the business community and the better off, while firmly establishing the framework within which Quebec politics is played out. To maximize their profits, companies rely not on high efficiency, but rather on strong growth stimulated by immigration, which provides consumers, seekers of housing and other infrastructure as well as labor abundant.
In this, they were able to count on unconditional support from governments. Moreover, to limit tax increases, governments have failed to fund public services at the level required by immigration while doling out billions of dollars in subsidies and other forms of aid to businesses.
The challenge of a more pragmatic QS will be to break the political framework which has imposed itself and which is accepted by a large majority of the population.
The communist experiment was essentially about achieving a fairer distribution of income and this fairer distribution, through regulation, taxation and the provision of quality public services, should remain the fundamental objective of left-wing parties. Well-informed, the majority of citizens would revolt against the income inequality that is evident in the capitalist world and which continues to worsen.
A small part of the population is enriched by the system, many others, professionals, entrepreneurs and politicians, find their benefit by putting themselves at the service of the better off, but the majority must be convinced that a political system which would grant them a the greater part of the wealth produced is achievable.
It is not with grand speeches that this battle of public opinion can be won by QS and this will not be done without a true revolutionary spirit. The QS program should propose eliminating subsidies to economically unjustified businesses, almost all of them, to aim for lower economic growth, compatible with population growth. Such a program would make it possible to choose, without pressure from the business community, the desired level of immigration, to restore the quality of public services and also to achieve satisfactory environmental objectives.
If Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois does not want to take the risk of worrying the population even for a moment, if he prefers to respect the imposed framework, the new united Quebec will be nothing other than a New Democratic Party provincial.