The SPQ Libre ! or Syndicalistes et progressistes pour un Québec libre ! (spelled with or without the exclamation mark) is a political club that, until March 2010, operated within the

Parti Québécois The Parti Québécois (PQ; , ) is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishi ...

. Its president is former

labour union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

leader

Marc Laviolette Marc Laviolette (born c. 1951 in Ottawa, Ontario) was Mayor of Ottawa for much of 1991. He was declared Mayor on 18 February 1991 after Jim Durrell resigned to become president of the fledgling Ottawa Senators ice hockey team. Laviolette had bee ...

History

The movement finds its roots in the desire of many progressive

Quebec sovereigntists Quebec is Canada's largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, New Brunswick to the southeast and a coastal border ...

to bring back disillusioned

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

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

social democracy Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

, instead of creating a ''

spoiler effect In social choice theory and politics, a spoiler effect happens when a losing candidate affects the results of an election simply by participating. Voting rules that are not affected by spoilers are said to be spoilerproof. The frequency and se ...

'' 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 Par ...

, 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, Quebec, Hull in 1921 as the ''Confédération des t ...

union president Marc Laviolette (the current SPQ Libre president), former president of the feminist Fédération des femmes du Québec and future BQ Member of Parliament Vivianne Barbot, 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 ...

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 and Secretary of the SPQ Libre Pierre Dubuc. 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 (Quebec), member of the National Assembly in various ridings ...

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 The (, ), commonly referred to as the , was a right-wing populist and conservative provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. On the sovereignty question, it defined itself as autonomist; it had support from nationalists and federalists. Its ...

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 advocating for Quebec's independence from Canada. Proponents argue that Quebecers form a distinct nation with a unique culture, language, ...

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; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

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. 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 politic ...

(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 ...

), 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