"The idea of just breaking away as a province (Crimea) going off on its own. In any kind of international legal framework, that has to come with the permission, the discussion of the entire population of Ukraine, not just with the province by itself."
Kimberly Marten, Political Science Professor, Barnard College, Columbia University, on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, March 7
Quebec is calling a provincial election for April 7. Sovereignty is on the ballot.
Premier Pauline Marois has had a minority government since the last election 18 months ago. Marois and the Parti Quebecois set the election so soon because the party feels like it can get a majority government.
The PQ has being talking sovereignty for Quebec, but can't do anything until the party can form a majority government.
The PQ rise in the polls leading up to the election period has a lot to do with the proposed Charter of Values, the legislation that would ban religious symbols for public employees.
The Charter of Values is a lot more popular in the rural areas where visible minorities aren't as likely to live. The potential law isn't as popular in urban areas such as Montréal and Quebec City.
Previous coverage:
Quebec votes for Parti Quebecois minority, but barely
Quebec voters don't have too many major choices on the ballot. There are no NDP or Conservatives in Quebec. The Liberals have a new leader in Philippe Couillard. The Coalition Avenir Québec is a relatively new party (2011) with former PQ members and the old Action démocratique du Québec (ADQ).
The CAQ is a mix of separatists and federalists, but has a 10-year moratorium on any new sovereignty referendum.
Marois or Couillard will be the next premier for Quebec.
In the 2012 election, the PQ only gained 3 more seats from 51 to 54. The difference was that the Liberals, under Jean Charest, fell from 66 seats to 50 seats. The CAQ jumped from 7 to 19 seats. Quebec Solidaire doubled its seats total from 1 to 2.
Since the 2012 election, 2 members have gone independent, 1 each from the Liberals and CAQ.
The PQ has a 5-seat edge over the Liberals.
Marois is already talking about how an independent Quebec would have no borders and would eagerly welcome tourists from Canada.
Quebec has economic and infrastructure troubles. The province lost 26,000 jobs in February as Quebec's unemployment rate rose from 7.5% to 7.8%.
Montréal's Champlain Bridge might be the most extreme infrastructure issue. There is the Charbonneau Commission dealing with corruption allegations with public construction contracts. Montréal has lost a couple of mayors over allegations stemming from the Charbonneau Commission.
But the talk is of sovereignty, and the PQ doesn't even have a majority.
Per Professor Marten's quote at the top of the column, if Canada got to vote on Quebec's referendum, Quebec would be gone. If Montréal and Quebec City couldn't vote, Quebec would be gone.
But Canada should be involved if there is a sovereignty referendum. First things first: Quebec's election is April 7. Then we'll see where things are in La Belle Province.
Comments
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.