An economic hurricane is buffeting the globe, but Quebec separatists can feel the wind in their sails. As governments around the world scramble to co-ordinate their plans for economic stimulus, the Parti Québécois argues that the best road map for recovery is the path of independence.
That may sound like a tired recycling of old Péquiste shibboleths from the referendum era, but it would be a mistake to show complacency toward the PQ's new strategy. So far, that's how the federal government and federalists generally are behaving. They are allowing party leader Pauline Marois to blame Canada for Quebec's economic setbacks virtually unchallenged.
Her political offensive at a time of economic setbacks is hardly a surprising tack for separatists, given that every politician on the planet is preaching that there are opportunities in the present crisis. But she is modifying the playbook in a pernicious way by sowing discord rather than co-operation.
"If Quebec were sovereign, we would be seated at the big international tables where nations work together to lessen the effects of the crisis," Marois told delegates to a PQ convention earlier this month in Quebec City.
It's hard to fathom how Quebec would get a seat at the big tables, given that its smaller GDP would exclude it from the G20 of powerhouse economies that has taken centre stage since the economic crisis began, let alone the annual G8 summit of industrialized countries – both of which have Canada at the table.
Setting aside that falsehood, it is the fanning of resentments that is more troubling. Taking a page from her Bloc Québécois brethren in Ottawa, Marois is only too willing to pit her province against Ontario in order to play the victimhood card.
"If Quebec were sovereign, we could support our industries in the manufacturing and forestry industries," Marois argued. "Our aeronautical industry would not be rejected in favour of outdated automobile manufacturers in Ontario."
That's a little rich coming from a politician in a province where the aerospace and pharmaceutical industries have benefited from generous federal subsidies and favourable policies over the years. Casting off Ontario's auto industry in its hour of need, while the U.S. is rushing to prop up its own auto sector, shows a remarkable myopia. It also speaks ill of the PQ notion of sovereignty-association to be badmouthing Ontario's economy.
But the PQ's tunnel vision goes further.
"If Quebec were sovereign, we would have all our taxes. We would have more manoeuvring room to develop an economic strategy, to support families and workers," Marois added. Apparently, annual equalization payments worth almost $10 billion don't enter into her calculations. Nor does Quebec's unhindered control of its powerful pension fund prevent it from influencing its own economic development, for better or for worse.
So far, the only response from Ottawa has been from the bumbling Conservative agriculture minister, Jean-Pierre Blackburn, who was given a golden opportunity during a routine news conference in Montreal last week to rebut the PQ rhetoric. But Blackburn's impulse was to talk up the province's hefty share of equalization payments – a veiled attempt to bribe Quebecers – rather than address the separatist arguments head-on. He was accompanied by the unilingual federal minister of science and technology, Gary Goodyear, whose silence – literally – at the news conference only made Ottawa appear even more mute to the assembled francophone media.
Seemingly reluctant to offend, the federal Liberals have also been strangely silent of late. That leaves the field open for the PQ-BQ alliance to spread its misinformation unchallenged. At a time of economic crisis, it is a federalist opportunity lost.