HENRY AUBIN - Québécois convention adopted a program that makes it formal: A PQ government would write a Quebec constitution, create Quebec citizenship and seek an end to Ottawa's "interference" in such areas as education, culture and health.
With the PQ favoured to win the next provincial election, the question has to be squarely faced: How would Montreal Island fare in an independent Quebec?
Many bright, articulate people who support sovereignty and at the same time want to see Montreal thrive squirm and change the subject when asked if they see any contradiction. To be sure, that doesn't necessarily mean there isn't a way to reconcile independence with the region's prosperity. It just means I haven't heard of one.
The other day I thought I'd hit the jackpot. A particularly brainy group, the Intellectuels pour la souverainté, was hosting a colloquium with the upbeat title "Montreal in an Independent Quebec: An Opportunity to Become Again a Metropolis with World Influence." I hotfooted it over.
--The first speaker was MNA Maka Kotto, the PQ's critic on cultural-communities issues and a likely cabinet minister in a PQ government.
Kotto told the 50-member audience at UQÀM that an independent Quebec would do a better job integrating immigrants into society. No longer would Quebec and Ottawa share responsibility over immigration; the new country, totally in charge of it, would be able to better select immigrants according to the needs of the labour market. No longer would Ottawa's multiculturalism "ghettoize" cultural communities; Quebec would make sure all newcomers learn French, and it would bring them into the mainstream.
Comment: Kotto ignored the elephant in the room: How would Quebec try to attract immigrants in the first place?
Experience shows that they avoid political turbulence like the plague.
After the PQ's first election in 1976, immigration plunged by as much as 50 per cent for several years and did not return to its earlier level for 13 years. The political uncertainty after the 1990 collapse of the Meech Lake accord that accelerated after the PQ's 1995 referendum contributed to a similarly sharp drop. (Quebec received 51,947 immigrants in 1991 and 26,626 in 1998.)
A successful referendum would presumably have an even more repellent effect than a failed one.
--Next up was Daniel Paillé, industry minister in the Parizeau government and now a Bloc Québécois MP. He made two points on the economy.
First, the Harper government's attempt to replace Quebec's securities regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers, with a Canada-wide body is the latest example of a drain of institutions that would stop with independence. Second, so long as Quebec remains in Canada, too much English will be spoken in such Montreal industries as aerospace, information technology and the health sector. That was the extent of his prognosis.
Comment: Yes, obviously Quebec would be able to hold onto all its public institutions, and even create some new ones. But Paillé, who has a master's degree in economics, said nothing about the Montreal region's ability, or inability, to retain or attract private industry.
The departure of companies is a special concern in Montreal, where companies rely more on knowledge.
--The final speaker was Rémy Trudel, a PQ minister of municipal affairs and later minister of health. He said provincial and municipal authorities will never be able to develop Montreal's waterfront because Ottawa owns it. That was his main point.
Comment: As problems go, this is trivial. The only deficient spot Trudel cited was the shoreline near the Bonaventure Expressway. The feds' redevelopment of the Old Port happens to be popular with Montrealers and tourists alike.
I came away from the meeting appalled. The speakers were bright, experienced in government and learned.
Yet none touched on the impact that a mass departure of investors, employers and residents might have on Montreal's and Quebec's fiscal situations - which are already troubled.
None suggested what a République du Québec might to do convince people to stay.
None suggested what new sorts of business Montreal might seek.
None had a vision for the city.
All dealt with problems by ignoring them.
If this is the best the sovereignist intelligentsia can do, God help this city under the PQ.
haubin Dor montrealgazette.com