The Union des forces progressistes (, UFP) was a

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 ...

political party in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, 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, ...

, 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 party. Four parties merged to form the Union: * the Rassemblement pour l'alternative progressiste (RAP), * the

Parti de la démocratie socialiste The Parti de la démocratie socialiste (, PDS; ) was a provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. Its roots go back to 1939, as the Quebec branch of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (later the New Democratic Party, NDP). The party wa ...

(PDS), formerly the New Democratic Party of Quebec * the Parti communiste du Québec (PCQ), and * the Québec-based membership of the International Socialists. On 5 November 2005, delegates of the UFP voted unanimously in favour of a merger with the party of the Option citoyenne movement led by

Françoise David Françoise David (; born January 13, 1948) is a former spokesperson of Québec solidaire – a left-wing, feminist, and sovereigntist political party in the province of Quebec, Canada. She was elected to serve as the Member of the National As ...

. The founding congress of the new party was held on 4 February 2006 and resulted in the formation of a new party, Québec solidaire.

Principles and aims

The aim of the UFP was to bring together progressive forces across the broad left wing of the political spectrum, including

social democrats Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...

socialists Socialism is an economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes the economic, political, and socia ...

and

communists Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, d ...

. The UFP also advocated altermondialism,

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

pacifism Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ...

and

green politics Green politics, or ecopolitics, is a political ideology that aims to foster an ecologically sustainable society often, but not always, rooted in environmentalism, nonviolence, social justice and grassroots democracy.#Wal10, Wall 2010. p. 12-13. ...

. Its platform did not specifically endorse social democracy, socialism, or communism. The Green Party of Quebec pledged to try to avoid running candidates in ridings where there was a UFP candidate, although it reserved the right to run anywhere it wants to (even ridings with a UFP candidate), and did not merge with the UFP. The UFP presented itself as an alternative to the main three parties in Québec: the centre-left

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 ...

, the centre-right

Quebec Liberal Party The Quebec Liberal Party (QLP; , PLQ) is a provincial political party in Quebec. It has been independent of the federal Liberal Party of Canada since 1955. The QLP has traditionally supported a form of Quebec federalist ideology with nuance ...

, and the conservative Action démocratique du Québec/Equipe Mario Dumont, saying that all three are but different faces of the same

right-wing Right-wing politics is the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position based on natural law, economics, authority, property ...

ideology called

neoliberalism Neoliberalism is a political and economic ideology that advocates for free-market capitalism, which became dominant in policy-making from the late 20th century onward. The term has multiple, competing definitions, and is most often used pe ...

. The UFP opposed

globalization Globalization is the process of increasing interdependence and integration among the economies, markets, societies, and cultures of different countries worldwide. This is made possible by the reduction of barriers to international trade, th ...

privatization Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...

, and

deregulation Deregulation is the process of removing or reducing state regulations, typically in the economic sphere. It is the repeal of governmental regulation of the economy. It became common in advanced industrial economies in the 1970s and 1980s, as a ...

, and called for increased funding of social services, higher taxes on the rich and business,

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

in the

National Assembly of Quebec The National Assembly of Quebec (, ) is the Legislature, legislative body of the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; ). The lieutenant governor of Que ...

, and an alternative economy based upon

co-operatives A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomy, autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned a ...

and

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

s. The UFP supported Québec sovereignty. It considered this option not as an end in itself, but rather as a means to achieve the party's social ideal for the people of Québec. To solve the national question, the UFP suggested the creation of a

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

, mandated to draw up and propose to the population, via referendum, a Constitution for a progressive, republican,

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin , or or ), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. The origins of secularity can be traced to the Bible itself. The concept was fleshed out through Christian hi ...

, and democratic Québec. The UFP was led by a council instead of a single leader. The UFP promised to be a party of the ballot box and of the streets, meaning that it would work to increase awareness of social problems and for progressive social change even between elections, particularly with regards to the rights of workers and of the unemployed. Considering its modest results in the 2003 elections (1.06% of the votes or 1.50% if the Green Party of Québec's votes were included), the UFP was a marginal party.

UFP position on the national question

From the Preamble of the UFP political platform, ''Building a world that reflects our ideals!'

:''UFP members share the view that the answer to the national question, and by extension social emancipation, is sovereignty for the Quebec people. The UFP believes that Quebec should become a country, free from the federalist yoke, and should acquire the essential tools it needs to develop as a nation.''

Representatives

* Pierre Dostie and Molly Alexander (2002–2004) * Amir Khadir and Denise Veilleux (2004–2006)

Election results

References

External links

Union de Forces Progressistes Website

National Assembly historical information

La Politique québécoise sur le Web
{{DEFAULTSORT:Union Des Forces Progressistes (Canada) 2002 establishments in Quebec 2006 disestablishments in Quebec Alter-globalization Defunct provincial political parties in Quebec Left-wing nationalist parties Political parties disestablished in 2006 Political parties established in 2002 Provincial political parties in Quebec Socialist parties in Canada Socialism in Quebec