Jacques Parizeau, former leader of the Parti Québécois (PQ) and premier of Quebec from 1994 to 1996, reportedly summarized his disagreement with Pierre Elliott Trudeau by saying that, at bottom, they agreed on almost every issue save one: where to locate the national capital.
This remark has the merit of illuminating one essential fact: the Parti Québécois and Trudeau’s Liberals fundamentally shared the same statist, interventionist, dirigiste view of the world. The only thing they really disagreed on was how this power should be divided between Canada’s federal government and Quebec’s provincial government.
In other words, Quebec separatists were, and still are, interested in a “Québec libre,” but, it seems to me, they are all too rarely interested in fostering the individual freedoms of Quebecers themselves. Worse still, one of Quebec’s two officially sovereigntist provincial parties, Quebec Solidaire, explicitly disregards economic and individual freedoms in favour of a certain conception of “collective freedom.”
In practice, this means increasing the coercive and exploitative powers of politicians, civil servants, and various so-called “social” groups at the expense of the hard work and investments of the majority of Quebecers.
To be clear, this opinion piece does not, in itself, aim either to support or oppose Quebec’s accession to the status of an independent country, but rather to underscore that the ultimate goal and effect of this process should be to tangibly increase the level of individual freedom for Quebecers themselves.
After all, it makes little difference to their daily lives whether it is Quebec and Ottawa, or Quebec by itself, that siphons off large portions of their incomes. The same logic applies if they find themselves increasingly regimented in their daily lives by a multitude of laws and regulations passed by Quebec and Ottawa, or by Quebec alone.
Quebec separatists, like the Parti Québécois, share a statist and interventionist worldview with federalist parties like the Liberals, differing primarily on the division of power between Quebec and Ottawa. The focus on “collective freedom” by parties like Quebec Solidaire can come at the expense of individual freedoms and economic prosperity. It’s an open question whether Quebec independence would truly improve the lives of Quebecers if it merely shifts control without increasing individual liberty or reducing government intervention.
Does the author believe Quebec independence would automatically increase individual freedoms for Quebecers?
What examples does the author give of economic dirigisme in Quebec and Canada?
According to the author, what is the main point of agreement between Quebec separatists and Trudeau's Liberals?
Comments (4)
Individual freedoms tend to diminish the authrity of governments. Bureaucracies thrive on control. It is easier for governments to control groups with bribes than it is to control individuals that demand freedom.