(Québec) Québec solidaire has reached a new “stage”, that of “preparing to govern”, launched the co-spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois to the activists, to whom he reported for the first time as parliamentary leader on the first day of the party congress.
He passed the test without too much difficulty, although the support of the parliamentary wing for the special law of the Legault government on demonstrations “in connection with health measures” makes people cringe.
A year ago, the leaders of Québec solidaire (QS) had received a volley of green wood from members who had accused them of having been complacent with the government since the start of the pandemic.
This time, the militant base had a more calm tone. Friday evening, many members took the floor, through a virtual platform, following a presentation by Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois and House leader Christine Labrie on the battles fought by members of the House.
“At the Fall 2020 National Council, there were some criticisms of the parliamentary wing’s lack of visibility in the context of COVID, and I think they were heard,” activist Ludvic said Moquin-Beaudry, who has already worked in the instances of Québec solidaire and who was responsible for communications for the Large Coalition of the Association for Student Union Solidarity when Mr. Nadeau-Dubois was its spokesperson.
“Not only have we played our role of second opposition, but we have had the impression for a few months that we have become the first opposition,” he added.
Disagreement over the right to demonstrate near schools
Nevertheless, the parliamentary wing has not escaped criticism. Activist Hélène Bissonnette, member of the Collectif Tendance Marxiste internationale, found it unacceptable that Québec solidaire supported the special law prohibiting demonstrations “related to health measures” within 50 meters of schools and other public establishments. .
“The adoption of Bill 105 sets a huge precedent that can open the door to possible attacks against leftist demonstrations and the struggles of the labor movement, student movement and oppressed groups,” she said. Our deputies voted in favor of the law despite the fact that it goes against article 4.5.6 of our program which explicitly defends the freedom to demonstrate. ”
According to her, this support “only participates in giving left-wing coverage to the CAQ government which is leading us into a dead end and which despite everything is still riding a wave of popularity”. She even accused the government of having “criminalized” the pandemic.
Christine Labrie replied that the QS deputies had estimated that “it was a minimum obstacle to ask that the demonstrations be held more than 50 meters from educational institutions”. The goal was “simply to make sure that the students can go to school in peace,” she said.
Put pressure
In his presentation, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois argued that the party “has changed, grown” and that it must now “prepare to govern”. He must “go find” all those who “do not identify with the conservative vision of François Legault”. “What we want to tell them is: Québec solidaire, it’s your home, it’s your political family. ”
In terms of the environment, we must be “the most credible and the most ambitious,” he added, welcoming his party’s gains on this front. “This summer, the government announced the end of GNL-Québec […], and about the third link, there is starting to be movement. We have seen a CAQ government back down, change its rhetoric, and even change the project itself. It shows that our pressure is starting to work. ”
For her part, the deputy Émilise Lessard-Therrien took stock of her time at COP26 and took the opportunity to vilify Prime Minister François Legault. “He went there to do business. He really attended COP26 as if it was the new economic summit in Davos. To be honest, it really repelled us, I want to say, ”she dropped. With his “strictly economic vision”, the Prime Minister “is in the process of evacuating the entire human dimension of the climate crisis”, according to her.