Québec Solidaire congress prepares alliance with Parti Québécois
By
Richard Dufour
20 May 2017
Québec Solidaire (QS)—an ostensibly left-wing, pro-Quebec independence party that has had representation in the Quebec legislature since 2008—is holding its twelfth congress this weekend. Two interrelated questions will be the principal focus of debate: whether QS should form an electoral alliance with the big business Parti Québécois (PQ) and whether it should merge with Option National, a small right-wing nationalist party that is itself a split-off from the PQ.
On the first question, QS is divided, but the disagreements are purely tactical. All the factions embrace Quebec nationalism and separatism, differing only on how best to promote them, and more specifically the precise character of Québec Solidaire’s relations with the other members of the larger “family” of pro-Quebec independence organizations and parties, above all the PQ.
Quebec ind épendantiste nationalism articulates the interests and aspirations of a section of the ruling class that want greater autonomy for the capitalist Quebec state—even to the point of secession from Canada. This faction calculates it can better pursue its global economic and geostrategic interests, including striking its own deals with Washington, if it is not tied to Ottawa and its rivals in English Canada. Moreover, it views the reorganization of the state apparatus that separation would necessarily entail as a golden opportunity to create a more “competitive” Quebec—that is to intensify the assault on public services and workers’ social and democratic rights.
The flagship and standard bearer of the Quebec independence movement for the past half-century, the PQ has been rocked by the hemorrhaging of it…