The latest polls say Paul St-Pierre Plamondon’s Parti Québécois is potentially on the cusp of winning a majority government in Monday’s provincial election.
Should the PQ be held to a minority, all eyes will be on the other main sovereignist party — Québec solidaire — and whether they’ll work with or against Plamondon’s goal of holding a referendum.
The way party co-leader Ruba Ghazal described it to hosts Bill Brownstein and Aaron Rand on the latest episode of The Corner Booth at Snowdon Deli, Québec solidaire’s vision of an independent Quebec is quite a bit different from the PQ’s.
Dave Sidaway /Dave Sidaway / Montreal Gazette
“Paul St-Pierre Plamondon wants to make a country, but in his fiscal sheet during the campaign, he wants to make the state of Quebec to be less strong,” Ghazal said.
“He wants to increase expenses less than inflation, and this means a lot of cuts in the public services. This is not good for our society, for Quebecers, for middle-class people who pay a lot of taxes but don’t have enough services, the services that they deserve.”
Asked whether QS would support the PQ in the National Assembly, Ghazal responded, “it depends on what they want us to work together on.”
She added: “We were able to make gains for renters. And even with a CAQ government with François Legault, who didn’t even believe that there was a housing crisis. We always fight for the people first.”
I understand that people, they are afraid.
Ruba Ghazal
Québec solidaire co-leader
Ghazal also had a message to voters who like her party’s policies, but don’t want a referendum.
“The most important thing for me is to have an inclusive project, to have a country with anglophones, with First Nations, with immigrants. When I came to Quebec, I was 10 years old with my family. I didn’t become sovereignist just like that.
“I understand that people, they are afraid. They don’t believe it’s a good thing. It’s important to talk to people and to rally Quebecers around this project, because if you want to make a country of Quebec, it’s not against Canada. And it will not be done only with two political parties in a closed office.”
She compared Quebec’s relationship to Canada post-separation with the European Union.
Dave Sidaway /Dave Sidaway / Montreal Gazette
Prospective voters include young anglophone Montrealers, many of whom have gravitated to the most left wing of the main parties. Ghazal said her book Les gens du pays viennent aussi d’ailleurs, which chronicles her journey as a young immigrant who became a sovereignist, has resonated with them.
“There are a lot of young people who told me, ‘I’m not with the independence of Quebec, but I read your book. The way you talk about the independence of Quebec, it reassures me.’
The Corner Booth is also available on The Gazette’s YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts and on Spotify.