Parti Quebecois promises to hold popular consultation on sovereignty

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This article was published 24/02/2007 (7140 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

LAVAL, Que (CP) – Parti Quebecois Leader Andre Boisclair found himself defending his party’s sovereigntist intentions Saturday after the PQ dropped the word “referendum” from its campaign platform.

The platform, unveiled Saturday in a hotel north of Montreal, calls for a PQ government to hold a “public consultation” on Quebec sovereignty during its first mandate.

But as someone once said about roses, a referendum by any other name would smell just as sweet to Boisclair, who made it clear that holding a popular consultation would be equivalent to Quebec’s third referendum on independence.

Boisclair was nevertheless left deflecting criticism that his party is trying to hide its true aims.

“We are the Parti Quebecois, the sovereigntist party,” Boisclair told a news conference.

“We didn’t leave any word out.”

Premier Jean Charest, meanwhile, was quick to attack the absence of the “R” word in the PQ platform.

“If Mr. Boisclair produces an electoral program and he’s not capable of pronouncing the word ‘referendum,’ can Quebecers trust Andre Boisclair?” Charest said in St-Hyacinthe where he unveiled his party’s agricultural policies.

Charest accused the PQ’s leader of “hiding behind words.”

Boisclair, who referred to a referendum repeatedly in a news conference Saturday, denied he was attempting to re-brand a notion that leaves many Quebecers cold.

He said Charest was simply trying to draw him into a “semantic debate.”

“I don’t want to get myself trapped in a sideshow,” Boisclair said. “We want to have an electoral campaign on real issues. We have a clear platform on the constitutional question.”

The past two PQ premiers – Lucien Bouchard and Bernard Landry – both pledged to hold referendums but failed to live up to their promises once in power.

The PQ’s platform promises to invest $750 million in primary and secondary schools, fight climate change and reduce surgery wait times to only a “very acceptable delay.”

It also calls for tax cuts once Quebec’s economy begins growing by 2.5 per cent annually.

“This platform is the demonstration of the transparent, responsible and honest government that we propose to Quebecers,” Boisclair said.

While Boisclair skated around referendum wording, Action democratique du Quebec Leader Mario Dumont and Charest duked it out over precious votes in Quebec’s rural heartland.

The ADQ hopes to make a breakthrough in the province’s rural ridings by stealing seats from the Liberals and the PQ.

Visiting a dairy farm in Lotbiniere, west of Quebec City, Dumont attacked Charest’s government for showing little interest in the challenges farmers have faced over the last four years.

The ADQ leader blamed the Liberals for sacrificing 500 to 600 hectares of land to make way for a highway extension.

But even Dumont couldn’t resist taking a shot at the PQ’s campaign pledges.

Using terms tailor-made for his audience of the day, Dumont said the PQ’s “platform was soft like overcooked carrots.”

Earlier Saturday, Charest defended his government’s record on agriculture, but offered few promises to the province’s struggling pork producers.

The Liberal campaign bus headed to Laval on Saturday evening where Charest announced that former biker expert Guy Ouellette would run in the riding of Chomedy.

Ouellette is a former provincial police officer who rose to fame during Montreal’s notorious biker wars.