LETTER
New PQ leader appeals to anglos
I have been following the PQ’s election of a new leader -- which has not been easy since the media here in the National Capital Region has had a news blackout on it, I guess. I am pleased Jean-François Lisée won since he is a voice of moderation and intelligence – and especially a voice of respect for our democratic traditions. He’s not going to declare a republic, for instance, and maybe won’t be tempted by the Catalonia example, which will have a unilateral independence referendum within a year, no matter what the Spanish federal government wishes.
To give your readers an example of Lisée’s manner of thinking and speaking, I quote a little from his acceptance speech – he spoke this part in his excellent English:
“We have a very catchy song, in French, by Loco Locass. It’s called: Libérez nous des libéraux. Free us from the liberals. Well, that’s our plan, for all of us, next election. The Liberal party has trapped anglo-quebecers for decades into voting for them by two means. First, by banking on the fear of separation. Better an inept, unethical, bumbling Liberal government than the separatist PQ was their basic message. Fully 40% of all non-francophones in Quebec are dissatisfied with this current government.
“This gives liberalism a bad name. Well, what if we got out of this trap for a change? What if we agreed to have a full term of just clean, honest, green, dynamic government? Yes, as a sovereigntist party, we will keep working towards our goal. But as a government, we will rebuild what this awful Liberal team is spoiling, but which we all hold so dear: this corner of North America that is unique in so many ways, and that thrives on that uniqueness, creativity, joie de vivre.
“The second means to keep you in the Liberal electoral trap is to make you believe that we, at the Parti Quebecois, are dreadful people. They have a vested interest in making you believe that. They have help from, among others, the Toronto Globe and Mail, which described us, and I’m not making this up, as “vampires” and “zombies”.
“Well, you know better than that. And, as a leader, I will make sure that we have an open and fruitful dialogue on who we are and what we can build together, once we do the current Liberal team the great service of putting them out of their misery and letting them regenerate in a long-overdue period in opposition. Dans ma campagne cette année, des membres des communautés hispano, juive, haïtienne, kabyle, libanaise, et plusieurs autres, jeunes et vieux ont vendu des cartes de membres dans leurs communautés et m'ont épaulé.”
Gertrude Cedre
Aylmer
