The left parties
For the first time since the early '80s there was an attempt to regroup
The Parti de la Democratie Socialiste (Socialist Democracy Party) ran 97 candidates, on a programme of and independence including self-determination for
Quebec's aboriginal peoples. This was the first time a left party presented candidates in so much of the territory. The party received over 25,000 votes but at 0,6% fell short of the 1% needed for official party status. In 1994 the party's predecessor, NPD-Q, scored 0.85%.
The PDS' 500 members make up just under half the membership of the Rassemblement pour я une
Alternative Politique (RAP). This proindependence social democratic movement, formed at the end of
1997, has strong anti-neoliberal rhetoric and calls for wealth redistribution, but lacks a programme. It tends to attract disillusioned former
PQ supporters.
The electoral efforts of the PDS encouraged and obliged the social- democratic wing of RAP to present seven last-minute candidates, with a demagogic campaign calling for a guaranteed "citizenship income, and accepting that full employment will never return. Their leading personality, an octogenarian trade unionist, scored over 5,000 votes against Lucien Bouchard. He attrac ted considerable media attention, giving the left an exclusively redistributive image.
RAP candidates stood without any party label, some in Ridings where the PDS was already present.
They attracted similar low scores
On the domestic front, the PQ imagines that, having played "hard ball" for the business class in its first mandate, it will have the luxury of presenting a *gentler' face over the next four years.
There is the pledge to introduce universal C$5-a-day childcare by the year 2004 and there were hints in the campaign of addressing the inequities in the new Quebec drug plan. Evidently, the PQ 'lefts' will be given some scope to repair the party's tarnished social democratic image and this if for no other reason than to improve the prospects of winning a future referendum.
All this is predicated on highly dubious assumptions: sustained budget surpluses, falling unemployment, and continued labour peace. It can't work. * Robbie Mahood was a candidate for the PDS in MontRoyal. He is a member of Socialist Action. See page 35 for contact address and subscription details. as the PDS, for a total of 0.17%.
The Parti Marxiste-Leniniste du Québec and the Parti Communist du Québec do not support independence. They ran separately, but scored less than 0.12% of the vote (up from 0.06% in 1994)
The International Socialists (English Canada's largest Trotskyist group) see Quebec nationalism as diversionary, and as a consequence are largely confined to the anglophone student milieu. They did not run candidates and refused to call for a vote for any of the other left
Bloc-Pot stands for the legalisation of soft drugs, attracting younger people disgusted with politics, but often keen to be active in the political sphere. They scored
This division, and the failure to combine PDS and RAP efforts do not fully explain the left's disappointing score. The mainstream parties certainly benefited from the fall in unemployment, now under 10% for the first time since 1989. Only 1.8% of voters supported the smaller parties, compared to 4.8% in 1994. Voter participation fell from 81% in 1994 to 78% in 1998. About 2% of voters spoiled their ballot papers. The partitionists Parti égalité is an extremist party of English-speaking Quebeckers who want the partition of Quebec if it declares independence.
English speakers and immigrants who prefer English to French make up over 20% of Quebec's population, but Parti égalité scored only 0.31%, up from 0.29% in 1994. Most English speakers voted for the Liberals. * [RM/MB/JD]
International Viewpoint #309 March 1999 21
* Sri Lanka
AIHOYS9
CAN'T REMEMBER
MAKING ANY
PROMISES DURING
THE ELECTION
CAMPAGN
Violence