The SPQ Libre ! or Syndicalistes et progressistes pour un Québec libre ! (spelled with or without the exclamation mark) is a

political club The political club is a feature of American urban politics usually representing a particular party in a neighborhood. They were most prominent in the later 19th and early 20th centuries, most famously in Tammany Hall of New York City, which adop ...

that, until March 2010, operated within the

Parti Québécois The Parti Québécois (; ; PQ) is a Quebec sovereignty movement, sovereignist and social democracy, social democratic provincial list of political parties in Quebec, political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates Quebec sovereignty movement ...

. Its president is former

labour union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

leader

Marc Laviolette Marc Laviolette (born c. 1950s in Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa ...

History

The movement finds its roots in the desire of many progressive

Quebec sovereigntists Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

to bring back disillusioned

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in so ...

militants and voters to the Parti Québécois, an established party for independence and

social democracy Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to prom ...

, instead of creating a ''

spoiler effect Vote splitting is an electoral effect in which the distribution of votes among multiple similar candidates reduces the chance of winning for any of the similar candidates, and increases the chance of winning for a dissimilar candidate. Vote sp ...

'' with third parties. Notable initiators of its birth are former

Centrale des syndicats du Québec The Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ; Quebec Labour Congress) is the third biggest trade union in Quebec, Canada, by membership. It was founded in 1946 when three earlier unions merged to form the ''Corporation générale des instituteurs e ...

union president

Monique Richard Monique Richard (born December 12, 1947) is a Quebec politician. She is a member of the National Assembly of Quebec, representing the district of Marguerite-D'Youville. She was elected in the 2008 provincial election. She is a member of the Part ...

, former

Confédération des syndicats nationaux The Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN; Confederation of National Trade Unions) is the second largest trade union federation in Quebec by membership. History It was founded in Hull in 1921 as the ''Confédération des travailleurs ca ...

union president Marc Laviolette (the current SPQ Libre president), former president of the feminist

Fédération des femmes du Québec The Fédération des femmes du Québec (FFQ; English: "Quebec Women's Federation") is a feminist organization binding individuals and groups in a common goal to "promote and defend the interests and the rights of women and to fight against all form ...

and future BQ Member of Parliament

Vivianne Barbot Vivian (and variants such as Vivien and Vivienne) is a given name, and less often a surname, derived from a Latin name of the Roman Empire period, masculine '' Vivianus'' and feminine '' Viviana'', which survived into modern use because it is the ...

, and former Parti Québécois minister Robert Dean. Opening the Parti Québécois to the concept of political clubs was first approved by then party leader

Bernard Landry Bernard Landry (; March 9, 1937 – November 6, 2018) was a Canadian politician who served as the 28th premier of Quebec from 2001 to 2003. A member of the Parti Québécois (PQ), he led the party from 2001 to 2005, also serving as the leader o ...

himself, convinced by left-wing activists. The party ratified this new possibility during the Parti Québécois National Council of 2005. This made it possible for the SPQ Libre to become a political club within the structure of the party.

, having become the SPQ Libre spokeswoman, was elected president of the Parti Québécois at the 2005 National Council, something seen by the SPQ Libre as a left-wing victory in the PQ. It declared its intent to field a sharply progressive candidate for the Parti Québécois leadership election of 2005, who ended up being editor of

L'aut'journal ''L'aut'journal'' () is a French language newspaper distributed in Quebec freely and through subscription. It was founded in 1984 by political scientist and journalist Pierre Dubuc, and as of 2004 has a circulation of 35,000 copies. It advocates ...

and Secretary of the SPQ Libre

Pierre Dubuc Pierre Dubuc (born Jean-Pierre Dubuc May 25, 1947 in Montreal, Quebec) is the director and editor of L'aut'journal, a progressive monthly paper. He is one of the founders of SPQ Libre, a left-wing political club within the Parti Québécois. Biogr ...

. After continued criticism of

Pauline Marois Pauline Marois (; born March 29, 1949) is a retired Canadian politician, who served as the 30th premier of Quebec from 2012 to 2014. Marois had been a member of the National Assembly in various ridings since 1981 as a member of the Parti Québ ...

perceived shift to the right on certain policy issues, the PQ expelled the group in March 2010, saying the attacks on Marois leadership and policies were "undermining party unity".

Identity question

After the PQ’s defeat in 2007, factions of the SPQ criticized the party leadership for allowing the "identity question" and defense of "Québécois de souche" to be led by the

Action démocratique du Québec Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

Description

The SPQ Libre is explicitly left-wing, pro labour unions and in favour of

Quebec independence The Quebec sovereignty movement (french: Mouvement souverainiste du Québec) is a political movement whose objective is to achieve the sovereignty of Quebec, a province of Canada since 1867, including in all matters related to any provision o ...

and determined enough to achieve it. Being a political club with the intent of assuring a strong left-wing presence in a party and to influence it, its nature is notably reminiscent of the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * ...

New Politics Initiative The New Politics Initiative (NPI) was a faction of Canada's New Democratic Party. It was generally viewed to be further left than Alexa McDonough's leadership, but not as far left as the New Democratic Party Socialist Caucus, Socialist Caucus. T ...

or, to a lesser extent, of the

New Democratic Party Socialist Caucus The New Democratic Party Socialist Caucus is an unofficial left-wing faction within Canada's New Democratic Party. Its manifesto maintains that the New Democratic Party has moved too far to the right, and is in danger of becoming indistinguishable ...

. Its creation represents in many ways a response to the creation of the

Union des forces progressistes The Union des forces progressistes (UFP) was a left-wing political party in Quebec, Canada, active from 2002 to 2006. History The Union des Forces Progressistes (UFP) was formed in 2002 out of desire to unite Québec's leftists into a political ...

(and

Option citoyenne Option citoyenne was an alterglobalization, sovereigntist and feminist political organization in the Canadian province of Quebec. The group was created by Françoise David in 2004; David and François Saillant were its official spokespersons. Opt ...

), as well as to the discontent of some militants of the PQ leftist faction. Thus, a goal of the SPQ Libre is to demonstrate that stronger leftists have their place in the Parti Québécois, portrayed by the SPQ Libre as the only party able to achieve sovereignty.

References

External links

Official site
{{Authority control Political movements in Canada Political party factions in Canada Quebec nationalism Secessionist organizations in Canada Organizations based in Quebec

History

Identity question

Description

See also

References

External links