Read the following: we must “place the large forestry industry under public control [participation majoritaire de l’État] considering, if necessary, complete nationalization.” Is the sentence taken from Communist Party Manifesto of Marx? She could. But we can read it in the Québec solidaire (QS) program, written in 2006, revised and readopted since, including in 2017. It is, for the moment, in force.
Now read this: our organization “recognizes the central role of the forestry industry in the economic development of several regions of Quebec” and will “adopt a strategy for adapting forests to climate change, in collaboration with the affected communities and industry”. Is this sentence taken from a leaflet from the Employers’ Council? She could. But we find it in the proposed orientation called the “Saguenay Declaration”, which QS delegates will have to amend, adopt or reject at the end of May. Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois (GND) is very proud of this document, which is indeed decisive.
It’s not just an update of the solidarity project or better packaging. This is an abandonment. The current program, which GND wants to rewrite, offers a road map towards a distant, but clear objective: the exit from capitalism, necessary to distribute wealth (old left) and save the planet (new left). Nationalized, large companies would be subject to decentralized and regionalized management, sometimes in the form of cooperatives or self-management.
A legitimate objective
I am not writing these words to raise fears. I noted it at the time (Imagining the post-crisisBoréal, 2009), the text offers a competent synthesis of the current work of the anti-capitalist democratic left on this subject, without however convincing us of the viability of the transition (first of all, where would the money come from to nationalize all this ?).
I myself am convinced that capitalism is leading the planet to suicide and that it would be good to get out of it (surveyed in 2020 on this subject, 25% of Canadians supported capitalism, 35% wanted to move away from it, others not really knowing what to think about it). The title found by Françoise David and Amir Khadir for a 2009 booklet, Overcoming capitalism, seemed to me — and still seems to me — happy. To escape feudalism in the past, some cut off heads, others “surpassed” the monarchy by gradually establishing a new world around them, until they were downgraded.
The break of QS activists with their original objective was visible from 2021, when it was necessary to decide on electoral commitments. The proponents of strong nationalizations were sharply put in the minority. The industry was not yet the friend of solidarity, but there was no longer any question of destroying it. The “Saguenay Declaration” is the culmination of this uprooting. When rewriting the program at the end-of-year congress, we will undoubtedly find a vague trace of the ideal of a better world, but we can bet that everything which could operationalize the transition away from capitalism will pass to the trapdoor. The GND party will therefore in reality, in its fundamental and cyclical texts, become a hurried, moderate woke social-democrat party.
The “Saguenay Declaration” announces that QS “has left its comfort zone”. That’s an understatement. And it is more than surprising that this text obtained the imprimatur of the Politburo, a necessary step for its validation and distribution. I see it as a sign of the influence acquired by GND and its allies over the minds that now sit there.
Eco-friendly concussion
We draw from passages on ecology the feeling that the party is suffering from a severe concussion, caused by its orange taxes of 2022. Environmentalists will be dismayed to see the disappearance of the bonus-malus applied to the sale of electric or energy-intensive cars. , in fact the evacuation of any restrictive effort demanded of citizens. Only businesses and the government must, according to the Orange Party’s new bible, bear the burden of decarbonization. Under a Nadeau-Dubois government, regional citizens will be able to drive F-150s, four-wheelers and Ski-Doos without remorse. The official title of the declaration is Close to the world. Closer, you die.
The text shows a fairly steep regional shift. The solidarity groups give in to the old regionalist lobby demanding a “direct distribution of royalties [tirées de l’exploitation des ressources naturelles] to regions and communities.” Even better if you have a gold mine near you. Too bad if you only have rocky soil. This measure is a passport to regional inequality, the opposite of the principle of national economic solidarity.
Inclusivity and respect for diversity are the key words in the passages relating to the nation. “Conservative nationalism” is vilified, the French language is celebrated, but the existence of a French-speaking majority is made invisible. But note the missing word in the following sentence: “Like everywhere else in the world, racism and colonialism persist in our society. Québec solidaire will put an end to government denial of these realities which do not correspond to our common values. » Did you spot it? The s-word? Systemic, reader friends. The word that causes so much grief has jumped out.
The PQ under Paul St-Pierre Plamondon followed an opposite path, and demonstrated that loyalty to one’s original ideal can – if the situation is favorable – become a formidable asset.
GND and its comrades note that, to break the ceiling which is overwhelming them, “the status quo is not possible”, as solidarity MP Christine Labrie wrote. Change, however, does not guarantee progress. Their counter-revolution could move them so far from their original anti-capitalist dream that “the world” they wish to get closer to could judge them changeable, opportunistic, soulless.