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| A depressing time for militant sovereigntists... |
We're seeing this with the federal Liberal Party and while we cannot estimate the success of this long-term endeavour, it is the only course of action open to them, short of disbanding or merging with the Ndp.
It was to be expected that the same would occur on a broader basis within the sovereignty movement, after the crushing defeat of the Bloc Quebecois in the last federal election.
The rather blunt and brutal rejection of the Bloc was a shock to the separatist system and after a short period of aimlessness and rage, one would expect the separatists to embark on the same course of action as the federal Liberals.
But it hasn't happened.
In trying to make sense of the absolute chaos in the sovereigntist movement that we see today, we should understand that the election loss was as traumatic to hard-core separatists as either of the referendum losses, probably worse.
Militants came out of each referendum defeated but uncowed, secure and confident that they could do better next time. In other words, the referendum defeats could be viewed as a stepping stone towards future success.
But there's no way for separatists to put a positive spin on last May's debacle, it represents an enormous step backward at the least and a fatal setback at the worst.
Instead of sucking it up, as the Liberal party is doing, the separatist movement has imploded, with factions spinning off in all directions in a monumentally stupid spiral of self-destruction. It reminds me of the Challenger space shuttle disaster where before our eyes, the aircraft blew up with parts blasted in all directions, the loosened rockets engines continuing to fire at full throttle, racing towards an ignominious end.
The separatist movement has embarked in an auto-destructive and out of control blame-a-thon and like a wild cafeteria food fight in high school, once started, there's no stopping it.
Militants, unwilling to accept the reality that the referendum option was rejected by its hitherto solid base, EVEN avowed separatists, created an alternate reality, one where the election loss could be blamed on the Parti Quebecois for not pushing the sovereignty and referendum option hard enough, instead of facing the truth, that the separatist option had lost favour.
Hmm...
Like an alcoholic who believes that his salvation lies in drinking more booze, militant sovereigntists pushing the fantasy that Quebecers need to discuss sovereignty more, are to be pitied rather than mocked.
With the Bloc decimated and its leader leader Gilles Duceppe withdrawing from the political scene, it fell to Pauline Marois to become the political fall-gal and so she and her party, were left holding the bag for the electoral debacle.
Like a boss blaming the sales and marketing team because people are no longer interested in an outdated product, separatists concocted the idea that by blaming Pauline and the PQ, they could avoid facing the truth, preferring to believe the fantasy that with a couple of tweaks and adjustments, sovereignty can be revived.
And so the sovereignists have come to the unlikely conclusion that the PQ has to go.
As a federalist, I can only rub my hands in glee at the monumental stupidity and encourage them good luck in their endeavors.
Could you imagine the long-suffering Toronto Maple Leaf fans, after years of frustration, firing all the players and then bringing up the entire Marlies (minor league affiliate) roster to replace them, hoping they'll do better?
Ironically, those now destroying the sovereignist movement are its most ardent supporters. The cast of hardliners wreaking wanton destruction on the movement reads like a who's who.
Here's a brief rundown of the cast of Benedict Arnolds and their contribution the demise of the sovereignty movement.
The Three Rats
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| Beaudoin, Curzi and Lapointe. An undertone of nastiness |
The first of these three is the frustrated wife of Jacques Parizeau, Lisette Lapointe, a nasty sort who remained a miserable pain in the side of Pauline from the beginning. Representing the Parizeau faction of the party, she worked tirelessly to undermine the leader.
For Louise Beadoin, the bane of Anglophones for over thirty years, the party had grown too 'authoritarian'. This from the most authoritarian hardliner Anglos have ever suffered under.
And then there is Pierre Curzi, the lowest of the low, who made no bones about his motives. He wasn't even shy to admit that he was leaving the party in order to destroy Marois so he could return later as leader.... the ultimate definition of a rat!
The Dreamer
Next to leave the PQ was MNA Jean-Martin Aussant, a hardline sovereigntist who said he was
disappointed with the decision to downplay sovereignty
in hopes of winning electoral support.
"In my opinion there is no bad timing to talk about sovereignty, there are only bad messengers,"
Mr. Aussant later announced that he'd be starting up a new separatist party, one that would put a bigger emphasis on sovereignty (and split the vote.)Again, good luck with that.....
The Mouvement Nouveau Québec
Frustrated hardliners decided to launch an alternate 'rainbow' coalition of separatists, one which would regroup all those who ardently believed in an independent Quebec and who pledged to work harder to convince Quebecers to support the Independence project.
The only problem is that they offered nothing in terms of policy to further that aim. In fact the only solution they tabled was the concept that a more frank and open discussion about sovereignty should be undertaken. Ugh!
After a founding convention in Montreal that attracted just three to four hundred people, this after massive publicity, the second meeting in Quebec City attracted less than a sixth of that total!
Since then, we've heard nothing more from this group and it's clear that the anti-PQ movement is foundering badly, as the inital energy seems to be gone.
Bernard Drainville
Even within the PQ caucus itself, there lies a certain desperation that things must change. A hitherto stalwart of the party, Bernard Drainville undertook a consultation with his constituents that led to a publication of proposed changes to Quebec's democracy.
The document had the gravitas of a closing memorandum of a high school mock Parliament.
Mr. Drainville embarrassed himself by making 10 ridiculous proposals meant to re-invigorate Quebec democracy, including the right of citizens to trigger their own binding referendums, on any subject, by way of a petition bearing 15% of the electorates signatures.
He then proposed that the whole British parliamentary system be changed and that Quebecers vote directly for the Premier. Link{FR}
Stupid and desperate propositions came from all quarters of the party, in a lame attempt to deflect the current debate.
Matane MNA Pascal Bérubé proposed that regular citizens be brought into Parliament to question politicians during question period and that an independent committee be established to verify if the government was living up to its electoral platform. LINK{FR}
Even Pauline Marois got into the deflection game, proposing an Estates General (public consultative meetings) to discuss a new sovereignty strategy, exactly what the public is dying for!!
If there is one term that both francophone and anglophones share to describe what is going on in the sovereignty movement, it is this- Free-for-all.
Readers, we are witnessing the end of the sovereignty movement as a political force. It has come to that!
It's true that there will always be a large minority of Quebecers who believe in sovereignty, but most of them have come to the realization that the project is no longer doable.
The next government of Quebec will not be run by the PQ, sovereigntists have botched any opportunity of that.
Had the PQ formed the next government, there might have been the slimmest of chance of re-igniting the independence movement. Because of the delay, the political realities of immigration will come into play and the last nail in the coffin of independence will be hammered in place.
Since the last referendum in 1995 and the next theoretical date possible for a referendum, say in the year 2018, Quebec will have accepted over a million new immigrants, 95% who will vote in favour of Canada.
The numbers just don't work and so.... the party's over.
Independence is no longer an option.
The mayhem in the sovereigntist movement that we are witnessing is nothing more than an energetic death rattle, a sad and desperate attempt to somehow stave off the inevitable.
Quebec is embarking on a new era, what it will be remains to be seen, but it will not include an Independence option.
