Paul St-Pierre Plamondon may tell party members what they want to hear, but he took note that talking about independence risked losing him the election in Jean-Talon. Its postponement of the publication of the year 1 budget is an illustration of this.
This paradox of the PQ – talking about independence distances it from power, getting closer to it condemns it to putting its option aside – nevertheless has a way out, but, who knows why, the PQ persist in turning their backs on it: sovereignism.
What is the difference with independence? Sovereignism does not reduce everything to a hypothetical Grand Soir. It aims to extend the sovereignty of the Quebec people, independence being the final stage of this process leading us to be “masters of our own home”.
Neither autonomy nor wait-and-see – the famous “winning conditions” – the approach of a sovereignist government would constitute a third way which would attract, I am convinced, a large majority of Quebecers, even those who are not necessarily independentists, but which could become so in the long run, or depending on the circumstances. Let us remember what happened after the failure of the Meech Lake Accord.
The PQ must move away from its referendum obsession and its Grand Soir logic, which is undoubtedly very exciting for activists, but which alienates a majority of voters, even many independentists, who have turned to the CAQ.
The other aspect that keeps voters away from the PQ is the fear of speaking clearly about this “we”. In order not to frighten young people – as if they all thought the same – and to challenge people of “diversity” and the separatists who vote QS, the PQ gave in to clientelism which led it to turn more plus our backs to the Quebec people. This must change if the PQ wants to hope to oust the CAQ from power.
As we saw during the 2012 elections, banking on popular discontent with the party in power will not be enough to reestablish the bond of trust between Quebecers and the PQ, which has been broken since the second referendum failure. The PQ will have to do more than rely on protest votes if it wants to take power and hope to move Quebec towards independence.