Members of the Conservative Party of Quebec (PCQ) will have to vote at the end of the week on a resolution aimed at promoting the “autonomism” of Quebec and opens the door to the repatriation of certain powers in matters of immigration and culture in particular.
“The time is […] come to develop our position on the national question,” we can read in the book of proposals drawn up by the party for its National Congress this weekend in Lévis.
It is proposed that a PCQ government develop a law on the autonomy of Quebec within the Canadian Confederation. But the party also proposes to include in its program enhanced protection of the “historic rights of the English-speaking community” in particular by abolishing Law 96.
The document also mentions the drafting of a “Charter of Autonomy” and cites a survey according to which a majority of Quebecers would be in favor of a repatriation of Quebec’s powers in the areas of immigration, culture and heritage, language, secularism and natural resources, as well as a single tax report.
The ambiguity of the PCQ’s constitutional position had caused tensions within the party after the 2022 elections. Activists disappointed with the defeat had notably criticized certain members of Éric Duhaime’s entourage of being too nationalist. Meanwhile, other supporters felt the party had spent too much energy courting the English-speaking vote in Montreal during the campaign.
The congress will also be the opportunity to hold the first vote of confidence for leader Éric Duhaime since the disappointing 2022 election. Furthermore, the latter made a proposal so that his name no longer appears in the official name of the party, which also bears the title of “Équipe Éric Duhaime”.
Third link, public transport, gender in schools
The document, which is more than a hundred pages long, addresses a very large number of subjects ranging from gender identity in schools to the exploitation of hydrocarbons, including the project of a third link and the creation of a position of budget director in Quebec.
In terms of transport, the proposal book suggests ending subsidies for the purchase of electric vehicles and redirecting “all funds into improving public transport”.
The party also reiterates its support for the project of a third link east of Quebec via Île d’Orléans. This solution would pass on the Lévis side via a “raised bridge” (to allow ships to pass) which would have six to eight lanes.
The document also promotes the construction of a “highway” on the island, but it is specified that “the planning must demonstrate that we have succeeded in minimizing the visual impacts on the heritage site of Île d’Orléans, the noise impacts for neighboring properties and compliance with current environmental standards.”
Other proposals recommend that Quebec return to nuclear energy and break with the Hydrocarbons Act.
Another recommends that “gender affirmation be the last avenue studied” in schools and that visits by drag queens be “better supervised”.
Members will also have to debate a reform of the voting method in favor of a “regional compensatory mixed proportional” model.