Quebecers Reject PQ and Elect a Liberal Government Representing Big Business

[Jefferson23]

Leo Panitch: "PQ fronting Pierre Peladeau as a their star candidate blew up in their faces" - April 13, 14


Transcript and video at link
snip*In the Quebec provincial elections that took place earlier this week, the separatist party Parti Québécois suffered its worst defeat since 1970. Its leader, Pauline Marois, lost her seat and later resigned from the party.

Media outlets in Canada are buzzing, asking, is Quebec's separatist movement dead? Or is it that the Parti Québécois was out of touch with the electorate. The student protests against austerity measures were constant in the background during the elections, as was the Charter of Values and the introduction of big-money union bashing among billionaire candidates.

With us to discuss all of this and more is Leo Panitch. Leo Panitch is the Canadian Research Chair in Comparative Political Economy and distinguished research professor of political science at York University, Toronto. He's the author of many books, the most recent being The Making of Global Capitalism: The Political Economy of American Empire, which won the U.K. Deutscher book prize. He's also the author of In and Out of Crisis: The Financial Meltdown and Left Alternatives.

Thanks for joining us, Leo.

LEO PANITCH, PROF. POLITICAL SCIENCE, YORK UNIVERSITY: Glad to be here, Sharmini.

PERIES: So, Leo, what happened during the Quebec elections?

PANITCH: Well, the Parti Québécois got wiped. And this is a very significant development. The unfortunate thing is that they were defeated by the Quebec Liberal Party, which has been a staid and rather corrupt government representing the right in Quebec politics. And, indeed, their foremost candidates, some of whom are very senior economists, world-renowned economists have made it very clear that what they're about is trying to serve big business and to get big business to invest in Quebec.

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