The Gazette September 7, 2010 Why doesn't Quebec have a conservative political party? Most places do, though it's often called something else: Liberal, Wild Rose, Progressive Conservative, Christian Democrat, Republican -every normal political spectrum includes a party clearly positioned on the right.
True, such parties often tilt left to win votes, but they do share a belief neatly articulated by Ronald Reagan: that government is not always the answer, and can often be the problem.
But in Quebec, such a notion is heresy. Governments come and go, bickering about federalism, but the state's role in society and the economy keeps growing. Dissent is not permitted. When Beauce MP Maxime Bernier assailed the "Quebec model" last spring, Finance Minister Raymond Bachand labelled him a "Quebec-basher." If you don't welcome pervasive and expensive government, something's wrong with you. You're a self-hating Quebecer.
That's the political culture Reseau Liberte-Quebec is out to change. The word "liberty" can make Canadians uneasy, perhaps because it has been commandeered by the right wing of the U.S. Republican Party and the "Tea Party" movement. But this fledgling group, which has a first meeting Oct. 23 in Quebec City, aims to use the word to rally Quebecers who "are fed up with a big interventionist state and are looking for more individual liberty and personal responsibility," says Eric Duhaime, a founder of the Reseau.
Like several of the six founders, Duhaime used to be involved in Action democratique du Quebec, which once seemed conservative but imploded under the pressure of too-speedy expansion.
Reseau Liberte-Quebec is not a political party, and barely even a movement. It might well collapse like the "lucid" movement before it. But every jurisdiction needs a real and continuing debate about the size and role of government. It's too bad Quebec can't have one.