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Sovereignty Watch
Apr. 11th, 2006 01:46 pmMichel Tremblay, Québec's world-reknowned playwright, and in his wake Robert Lepage, Québec's world reknowned stage and movie director, have questioned the sovereignty movement. Tremblay initiated the charge, saying that the movement has been boiled down to economic questions and that he cannot recognize himself in it anymore.
The reaction today: Victor-Lévy Beaulieu, reknowned author, calls them traitors who have forgotten about their roots. It's a particularly rich criticism considering that Lepage has stuck to his Québec City roots, even establishing a studio there, when most artists rush to Montréal the second that fame seems to look their way.
Paul Piché, popular sovereigntist singer, "understands" them and is also concerned about the centrality of economic, capitalist concerns in the movement (read, the PQ), although he says it's not any better elsewhere in Canada.
Duceppe and Boisclair welcome debate about the question.
Tremblay's comments come on the heels of the by-election in the PQ stronghold of Saint-Marie-Saint-Jacques. The PQ won it but where Québec Solidaire, the new united Left party in Québec, also sovereigntist but that prioritizes social issues, picked up 23% of the votes, almost passing by the Liberals' 27%.
Québec Solidaire, by making sovereignty a platform plank but not a party priority, makes itself an option for federalist lefties that could not bring themselves to vote for the PQ when it makes too much noise about separation. Considering that the Liberals are as conservative as Québec will allow, it is a welcome choice. But most of its impact will be to divide the PQ vote, potentially leading the way for the Liberals to be re-elected.
Personally, I was quite pissed off that QS took on sovereignty. They could have straddled the fence, as the ADQ does.
The reaction today: Victor-Lévy Beaulieu, reknowned author, calls them traitors who have forgotten about their roots. It's a particularly rich criticism considering that Lepage has stuck to his Québec City roots, even establishing a studio there, when most artists rush to Montréal the second that fame seems to look their way.
Paul Piché, popular sovereigntist singer, "understands" them and is also concerned about the centrality of economic, capitalist concerns in the movement (read, the PQ), although he says it's not any better elsewhere in Canada.
Duceppe and Boisclair welcome debate about the question.
Tremblay's comments come on the heels of the by-election in the PQ stronghold of Saint-Marie-Saint-Jacques. The PQ won it but where Québec Solidaire, the new united Left party in Québec, also sovereigntist but that prioritizes social issues, picked up 23% of the votes, almost passing by the Liberals' 27%.
Québec Solidaire, by making sovereignty a platform plank but not a party priority, makes itself an option for federalist lefties that could not bring themselves to vote for the PQ when it makes too much noise about separation. Considering that the Liberals are as conservative as Québec will allow, it is a welcome choice. But most of its impact will be to divide the PQ vote, potentially leading the way for the Liberals to be re-elected.
Personally, I was quite pissed off that QS took on sovereignty. They could have straddled the fence, as the ADQ does.