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Layton sees Quebec NDP door opening |
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Sherbrooke – Jack Layton thinks Quebec is ready for the NDP and is touring the province in an attempt to prove he’s right. In a meeting with the Record, yesterday, Layton praised Quebec’s “progressive political culture,‘ adding that it fits in perfectly with the federal New Democratic Party.
 PHOTO: SARAH ROGERS Federal NDP leader Jack Layton believes Quebecers’ values “essentially social democratic”.
“I believe, and I think the Party believes, that Quebecers’ basic values are essentially social democratic,” he stated, “They’re concerned about the environment, they’re concerned about foreign policy - basically the same values as the NDP.”
Layton, who was born in Montreal and spent his youthful summers in the Brome Lake area, is not a total stranger to Quebec politics. His grandfather, Gilbert Layton, was a cabinet minister in Maurice Duplessis’ Union Nationale government who resigned over the Quebec government’s lack of support for Canadian participation in World War II.
Layton believes that with the Conservative Party appearing to have given up on Quebec, and the Liberals having chosen a right-of-centre leader, the time should be ripe for the NDP to build its support in this province.
“We made a bit of history last October, at least for us, because we’d never elected a Member of Parliament from Quebec before and we were successful in a by-election and then in the general election,” Layton said, referring to the victory of former Quebec Sustainable Development Minister Thomas Mulcair in the riding of Outremont. “We came second in four ridings in the province which nobody expected. We’ve taken our support from somewhere behind the Marijuana Party, around two per cent, to up to 12 per cent in the last election. Some polls say we’re ahead of the Conservatives now – it goes up and down, but at least we’re players now.”
Mulcair, says Layton, “is the kind of person we want to have in the NDP. He was a cabinet minister, a pretty cushy job, but he quit on a matter of principle.“
Layton believes that with both the Conservatives and the Liberals now leaning decidedly to the right of the political spectrum and the Bloc with no possibility or desire of achieving power, Quebecers are ready to look to the NDP. “They look at Tom, (Mulcair) and the work he’s doing, and the kind of candidates we are beginning to recruit, and there is a door opening with the changing nature of the political landscape and Quebecers’ aspirations – and they don’t like being told they have only one option.”
When asked why the NDP has had such a difficult time making inroads in Quebec, given Quebecers’ “social democratic values,” Layton suggested that the sovereignty issue has played a role, but says many Quebecers are moving past that to focus on other issues.
“Quebec politics and people’s perspectives on the issues have evolved beyond the exclusive focus on what we always called the ‘national question’ and there’s a self-confidence in Quebec now that allows that to happen. This region, for example, has the highest percentage or share of manufacturing jobs as a percentage of population in the country. I think that shows you’ve got a strong entrepreneurial class and a group of workers who are efficient and can put together a profitable enterprise. When you put it all together, I think that it’s an opportunity waiting to be realized. I’m out here to help realize that opportunity. We also need to know where the help is that Stephen Harper promised and if it’s arriving here,” he added.
Layton also cites Quebec’s leadership in many key areas of what will become the New Economy. “Quebec already leads in prescription drug insurance and child care and is racing past Alberta which has led in wind power. I recently became a grandfather and my daughter, who has a really good job, is going to have to spend her entire salary on childcare. Quebec leads the country in this area and has a strong voice in this debate. We need that voice at the level of the national government and it willnever be there with the Bloc. ‘
By Mike McDevitt
2009-07-07 |
Montreal Canadiens
