Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Quebec party gives beaver the boot in ad

MONTREAL -- Who could resist a cuddly cartoon Canadian beaver, purring as it rubs against your leg with a broad, buck-toothed smile creasing its face underneath a Mountie stetson?

The Québec solidaire political party, that's who.

In fact, in an election ad designed to put to rest doubts about its support for Quebec independence, a stick figure gleefully boots the furry national rodent right off the screen.

The crudely drawn cartoon ad has been posted to the Internet and is one of five the small left-wing party said is aimed at clearing up misconceptions about it, including sniping from former Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe, who is backing the bigger Parti Québécois.

In the ad, a narrator rejects any secret affair with Canadian federalism.

"There are rumours that members of Québec solidaire drape themselves in the Maple Leaf and hold questionable ties to beavers," says the narrator, as images show a group of robed and hooded figures gathered around a table with a Maple Leaf.

"In fact, that's not quite the case."

Though it only has one seat in the legislature, Québec solidaire could siphon support from the PQ in some ridings. In an effort to rally the sovereigntist vote, Duceppe and others have attacked the party's commitment to independence.

The ad is meant to clear things up, Québec solidaire said, and do it with a little humour. The ad jokingly ends by saying no beavers were harmed in the making of the new spot.

 

-- The Canadian Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition August 7, 2012 A7

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