The Committee on the Relaunch of the Liberal Party of Quebec is working on a proposal for a Quebec Constitution, because it sees in this “inclusive” project a way for the Liberals to assert their nationalism, we have learned The duty.
According to our information, the constitutional offensive is one of the elements that will be proposed in the committee’s report, which must be unveiled to the PLQ general council on October 14 and 15 in Drummondville. Launched in March, this think tank was led by former journalist André Pratte and MP Madwa-Nika Cadet.
The place that nationalism must take in the PLQ, which only garners 5% of support among French speakers, has fueled discussions among activists and elected officials since the electoral defeat of 2018. With a proposed Constitution of Quebec, the members of the committee recovery hope to redefine nationalism, in particular because the Coalition Avenir Québec has appropriated this theme — wrongly, in their opinion.
“Not being CAQ doesn’t mean not being nationalist,” summarizes a liberal. The question for his party is not whether it should “be more or less nationalist”, but rather to define what that means, he adds.
In an interview, professor and former Liberal minister Benoît Pelletier claims to have been invited in June by the Pratte-Cadet committee to discuss, among other things, the question of a Quebec Constitution. Mr. Pelletier specifies that he has not had any contact with the committee since. But “I would not be surprised if the PLQ adopted this idea or put forward this idea”, he says to the Duty.
The party will, however, have to move away from “strictly electoralist” considerations, he warns. “The idea is not to say: “We have to win back the hearts of Quebecers.” The party really needs to have a heart that beats at the same rhythm as that of Quebecers. So, there is a determination, a desire to see Quebec as a society which has its deep identity and which wants to reaffirm it. »
English speakers too
Benoît Pelletier underlines that questions of territorial integrity, such as the right of Quebecers to choose their future, make some liberals “uncomfortable”.
There is “educational work” to be done, a liberal source also agrees. Above all, there is no question of leaving Anglophones and Indigenous people aside, argued various people who spoke with The duty.
In its proposal, the committee would like to recognize in a fundamental law the existence of Quebec as a nation within the Canadian federation and the status of French as an official and common language. But he also proposes recognizing the rights of indigenous communities and the English-speaking community, such as that of control of its institutions. The proposal therefore highlights the idea of “inclusive nationalism”, summarizes a source.
Benoît Pelletier, for his part, sees in this project “a great opportunity” to redefine Quebec’s relationship with Indigenous people and Anglophones. The latter were cooled by the work of Dominique Anglade’s PLQ on Bill 96, which modified the Charter of the French language, liberals pointed out. The attempt to retreat towards marginalized communities has also fueled the debates within the recovery committee. The need for the party to make a mea culpa would have irritated certain former elected officials, who wish to look to the future.
And the leadership race?
Another source of tension: the calendar for the party leadership race should be revealed in Drummondville, as well as the conditions of admission to the race. The spending limit, set at $500,000 in 2020, would be lowered. The number of member signatures to be collected would be greater than the 1000 necessary three years ago.
For the race, two scenarios would have been studied: one from the fall of 2024; the other later, in the spring of 2025. The first scenario, favored by activists, was rejected by members of the PLQ caucus and former elected officials. “The position will be more interesting in a year,” argued a source. The post-Philippe Couillard era, which led to the coronation of Dominique Anglade, is seen as a counter-example.
The Liberals are also now careful not to throw the names of potential candidates into the public space in the hope of attracting them. “Each time, they respond that they don’t want to go,” laments a source.