Analysis: QS plays for Quebec’s vote-rich middle ground

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Members of the solid Québécois are meeting to define the policies it will use to attract voters in the next election campaign.

Author of the article:

Philip Authier • Montreal Gazette

Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, of the Québec soldier, had tried to make it clear that, in his opinion, the prime minister had recently proclaimed himself “father of the Québec nation”."
Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, of the Québec soldier, had tried to make it clear that, in his opinion, the prime minister had recently proclaimed himself “father of the Québec nation.” Photo by Jacques Boissinot /The Canadian Press

QUEBEC – A 35-hour workweek, an increase in the minimum wage, a formal investigation into systemic racism, the fight against climate change, and a plan to make Quebec an independent country will all be on the table this weekend as members of Solidarity Quebec meet in Montreal for a policy convention.

In an attempt to broaden the base of the center-left party as Quebec nears the October 2022 general election, a package of resolutions up for debate would push the party beyond its usual political elements to appeal to women. masses.

The package will be debated this weekend when 400 party members meet, virtually and in person, for a political convention.

“This convention is a defining moment in the building of our movement,” writes the party’s general secretary, Nicholas Chatel-Launay, in a preamble to the 21-page document released on Friday. “It is this weekend where we will establish the benchmarks for the 2022 electoral campaign, the largest and most important in the history of Québec solidarity.”

With 10 MNAs in the legislature and status as the second opposition party behind the Liberals but ahead of the struggling Parti Québécois, QS has been making political waves since the 2018 elections.

But in recent months he has earned the biggest compliment: constant attacks by the ruling Avenir Québec Coalition party, which seems to have decided that it is a threat but also useful in polarizing the voting population from left to right.

A good example came in September, when Prime Minister François Legault made headlines by calling out QS co-spokesperson and parliamentary leader Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois as a wake-up call.

The term “woke up” is generally used to describe people who are focused on ending social injustices and especially all forms of racism.

Nadeau-Dubois had tried to make it clear that, in his opinion, the prime minister had recently proclaimed himself “father of the nation of Quebec.”

He compared Legault to the former Prime Minister of the National Union, Maurice Duplessis.

The two have been fighting ever since. At a CWC general council last weekend, Legault set the stage for the upcoming elections, telling Quebecers that they can expect more changes if he is elected to another four-year term.

This weekend it is QS’s turn to prepare for the elections and the resolutions show that it is pursuing the same “vote-rich” middle ground as the CAQ in proposing measures that affect people’s daily lives. Many would also position the party as a clear alternative to the CAQ, more of the center right.

For example, QS promises to raise the minimum wage, which is currently from $ 13.50 an hour to $ 18 an hour “the day I take office.”

Arguing that Quebecers work too hard, QS also wants to reduce the official work week to 35 hours with a minimum of four weeks of vacation for everyone. There would also be one legal holiday per month. The typical Canadian workweek today is between 37.5 and 40 hours.

To encourage the use of public transportation, a QS government would cut transportation rates by 50 percent for everyone with the long-term goal of eventually making all transportation free.

For the elderly, QS wants to create a “public and universal” pension system, in addition to massively promoting home care for people who want to stay at home.

While Legault refuses to acknowledge that there is systemic racism in Quebec, the QS resolution states: “To recognize the reality of systemic racism in Quebec society, QS undertakes to launch a commission of inquiry into systemic racism and apply its recommendations”.

It also commits to implement the numerous recommendations of the Quebec human rights commission on systemic racism.

QS’s number one priority continues to be the fight against climate change. While the CWC’s greenhouse gas reduction goal is to reduce emissions to 37.5 percent of 1990 levels, QS goes further, setting a target of 45 percent by 2030.

The goal is for Quebec to be carbon neutral by 2050.

QS also does not shy away from its goal of making Quebec an independent country. If elected, QS undertakes to create a constituent assembly composed of individuals elected by universal suffrage, which would be in charge of drafting a draft constitution for Quebec.

The draft constitution would be presented to the population in a referendum.

QS has around 20,000 active party members.

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Reference-montrealgazette.com

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