Sunday, February 05, 2006

Unifier la Gauche

I'd say it's been a good couple of weeks for Jean Charest, wouldn't you?

The Harper win can only help him, a new poll shows sovereignty down (well...kinda), and now a new left wing separatist party has been founded in Quebec.

Anyone know how credible these guys are? How many votes can they realistically be expected to siphon off from the PQ?

posted by calgarygrit at 12:31 p.m.

19 Comments:

  • This party is so ridiculous. Listen to this:

    - No leader
    - Two spokespeople, one man and one woman
    - 16 council members that make decisions (instead of a leader), 8 men and 8 women
    - Openly socialist
    - Feminist (as opposed to just egalitarian)

    Obviously this party wouldn't have an icicle's chance in hell anywhere else but Québec, but in Québec where some of the urban population live in this hippy la-la-land, they can probably aim for 1-2% of the vote.

    In some tight ridings, it may make a difference. But the party is so urban in nature, it won`t even be a mindfart in the rural areas.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1:10 p.m.  

  • Dingwall has been paid off. In fact the PMO knew on Friday January 20th that Dingwall was going to receive close to half a million dollars.

    The report was withheld from the canadian people by the PMO and officials within the civil service. That is the story of the day. Not some upstart left-wing wack jobs in Quebec.

    A final parting shot for the culture of entitlement. Fuck you Liberals.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1:20 p.m.  

  • A final parting shot for the culture of entitlement. Fuck you Liberals.

    Au contraire. This is a direct result of the Conservative culture of lies. Fuck you Brian Pallister is far more appropriate since he's the one who falsely accused Dingwall of the wrongdoing that led to his dismissal.

    By Blogger Robert McClelland, at 3:50 p.m.  

  • Anyone know how credible these guys are?

    Don't know how credible they are but when I saw the story on tv, alarm bells went off. Any chance this is party has been cooked up by conservatives to siphon votes away from the other parties in urban areas so as to give the Conservative Party a better shot at taking seats? This might sound far fetched, but it seems to me there is no underlying reason for a new separatist party to spring up since the Bloc has served their cause pretty well.

    By Blogger Robert McClelland, at 3:56 p.m.  

  • The Union des Forces Progressistes (UFP) has been around for a while. They ran in the last election. They recently merged with another new lefty party, Option Citoyenne, to make the new party. So they're not a Conservative front :>

    By Blogger dru, at 4:27 p.m.  

  • Francoise David, the woman likely to be co-leader of the new party, is the Judy Rebick of Quebec. She ran the activist Quebec Women's Federation for most of the ninties and has some profile in Quebec. Less likely to be a pain in the neck for Charest and the Liberals or Dumont and the ADQ than for Boisclair and the PQ. Even if the new party receives less than 5% of the popular vote, those votes are more likely to bleed from the PQ. On balance, probably a good thing for those who want Quebec to continue as a part of the federation.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 5:41 p.m.  

  • Don't think it will make too much difference although Andre Boisclair is more of a centrist as opposed to a leftist like many previous PQ leaders were. Hopefully Charest does win the next election or at the very least holds the PQ to a minority government and then forms a coalition with the ADQ. If the PQ wins a minority government, the opposition can block any future referendums. I suspect the cocaine incident might also hurt the PQ since Andre Boisclair didn't just do cocaine, which is not a big issue, but did it while a cabinet minister which is an issue.

    By Blogger Monkey Loves to Fight, at 6:31 p.m.  

  • Come on...no need for nasty four letter words Colin. Did anyone else think that show last night with the 4 former PM's was quite fasinating? I was surprised at the plug that Turner gave to Harper.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8:55 p.m.  

  • At most, they can hope to win two seats in the hipster neighbourhoods of Montréal like the Plateau Mont-Royal, where Amir Khadir and Françoise David (the two only known spokespeople) will most likely run.

    That's about it. Québec City is ADQ and Liberal territory. The east-end of Montréal is Péquiste land. The Liberals could run a bunch of mailboxes in the West Island and still win. The suburbs of Montréal are swing areas that go from Péquiste to Liberal and vice-versa quite frenquently.

    I'm afraid there's no room in the political space for Québec Solidaire.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9:39 p.m.  

  • Breaking News! David Emerson defects to the Cons! He's in the Canibet! You Libs get Belinda!!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 10:35 a.m.  

  • Oh anonymous!
    The hypocrisy of the Conservative party! Unlike the Liberals, many of the Conservatives demanded automatic resignations for those who cross the floor. And now, crossing the floor is recommended in the Conservative party.
    The Harper government has no credibility.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 10:48 a.m.  

  • I understood this new party had a 1000+ attendance for it's kick off... that's not too bad a showing.

    If they screw up the PQ vote, I say "go baby go".

    By Blogger Joe Calgary, at 11:04 a.m.  

  • Given that Québec is in the process of adopting proportional representation, I think this party will do just fine at the polls.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:25 a.m.  

  • Emerson (now cons) + NDP + André Arthur.....

    By Blogger Bass, at 11:25 a.m.  

  • Conservative hypocrisy knows no bounds.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:36 a.m.  

  • Oh, and: people who don't live here often don't realize that the separation issue is just one factor for Quebecers in chosing a candidate to support. Many people who would vote no in a referendum will still vote for this party.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:52 a.m.  

  • Multi-party system. Ya jest gotta luv it. Creative and artistic.

    Robert is steamed at diluting the vote, but remember they can throw - in with another party and make things *swing*.

    My choice would be a healthy lunge forward for the Green Party.

    They are very big in Europe and for good reason. TG

    By Blogger TonyGuitar, at 12:25 p.m.  

  • I trust we'll see the particularly rabid right-wing Conservatives attack Emerson as an opportunistic prostitute? They wouldn't want to be seen as hypocrites, after all...

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 12:37 p.m.  

  • I guess the Dingwall thing is done!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1:22 p.m.  

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