THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME: THE RISE OF MARIO DUMONT AND THE ADQ Tasha Kheiriddin The stunning election in Quebec is widely seen as a result of the Liberals’ failure to capitalize on the collapse of the PQ, resulting in a surge of dissatisfied voters to Mario Dumont and promotion of the ADQ to official opposition in a minority House. But, writes Tasha Kheiriddin, there is another story, a gradual shift “from a federalist- separatist paradigm to a left-right axis.” The ADQ’s “autonomist” ambiguity on the national question “opens the door to a different level of debate,” she writes, “one which much of the rest of the world has been indulging in since the late 1970s.” It is a debate on the appropriate role of the state in the economy and in society as a whole. L’incroyable dénouement des élections québécoises est largement attribué à l’incapacité des libéraux de profiter de l’effondrement du PQ, cette défaillance ayant provoqué le transfert d’une vague d’électeurs insatisfaits vers l’ADQ de Mario Dumont, qui forme aujourd’hui l’opposition officielle d’un gouvernement libéral minoritaire. Mais selon Tasha Kheiriddin, on a aussi assisté au passage d’un « paradigme fédéralisme-indépendance à un axe gauche-droite ». C’est ainsi que l’ambivalence « autonomiste » de l’ADQ sur la question nationale a « ouvert la voie à un débat d’un autre type », écrit l’auteure, « ce même débat auquel s’adonne le reste du monde depuis la fin des années 1970 ». À savoir le débat sur le rôle de l’État dans l’économie et la société dans son ensemble. ommon wisdom has it that there were three stories controversy of 1926? Or the drama over the adoption of in the recent Quebec election. The first was the col- Canada’s flag in 1964? Yet these were the dominant politi- C lapse of the Parti Québécois vote. The second was cal debates of their times, inflaming passions and dividing the failure of the Liberals to capture that vote. The third was loyalties in our houses of Parliament and beyond. the meteor-like ascendancy of the Action démocratique du In a similar vein, after 40 years of passion, conflict and, Québec and its leader, “Super Mario” Dumont. On the eve in its earliest stages, civil unrest and violence, the Quebec of the election call in February the ADQ was polling 17 per- separatist movement seems to be losing its fire. Two failed cent; by the time the votes were counted on election night, provincial referendums, the death of the Meech Lake Accord it had captured 31 percent of the popular vote, outpacing and the rejection of the Charlottetown Accord have left a the PQ at 28 percent, right on the heels of the Liberals at 33 lingering haze of constitutional fatigue over the land. A fed- percent and increasing its representation in the National eral Conservative government committed to “open federal- Assembly from 5 to 41 seats. ism” holds power in Ottawa. In Quebec, the ADQ is now the But there is a fourth story. It provides a backdrop to the official opposition, while the PQ is now the third party, gar- other three, and it has been simmering in Quebec for the nering its lowest percentage of the popular vote since its better part of a decade. That story is a gradual shift in the first election in 1970. political zeitgeist from a federalist-separatist paradigm to a Ironically, Dumont cut his political teeth on the very left-right axis. This shift has been slow in coming and is far issue — Quebec’s place in Canada — that his party’s success from absolute; indeed, there is no guarantee the “national is now helping to move to the back burner. Dumont first question” will never again be the pre-eminent issue for rose to prominence in 1991 when as president of the Quebec voters. But in politics pendulums always swing. provincial Liberal youth wing he broke with the party over Issues come and go, and the preoccupations of our forefa- its failure to endorse the Allaire Report. That document rec- thers often seem archaic to subsequent generations. Who ommended a sweeping transfer of powers from Ottawa to today can relate to the famous King-Byng constitutional the provinces. After its repudiation by the Liberal Party, POLICY OPTIONS 53 APRIL 2007 Tasha Kheiriddin Dumont and its author, Jean Allaire, identify him as a federalist. To The importance is not where he left to form the ADQ; when Allaire some extent he may represent a stands but where he doesn’t resigned for health reasons, Dumont bigger threat to the cohesion of stand. I think people have per- took over as leader. He was first elected the country than the sover- ceived quite rightly that it’s not to the National Assembly as the mem- eignists, who are so easy to tar- a priority for him. He spoke ber for Rivière-du-Loup in 1994 and get if you are a federalist. about autonomism only when subsequently endorsed the Yes side in That fear is shared by many colum- he was asked about it. On the the 1995 Quebec referendum. nists in English Canada who see in other hand Boisclair was forced On the “national question,” Dumont a return to the “knife at the to put the sovereignty agenda at Dumont later moved to the more throat” strategy used by Bourassa to the forefront of his campaign, amorphous position of “autonomy.” extract constitutional or financial con- and Jean Charest tried to use the Autonomy is not a new concept on the cessions from English Canada. Before constitutional debate as a prime international scene. Politically speak- the election results were even in, Globe source of support…From the ing, an autonomous area is one which and Mail columnist Jeffrey Simpson beginning I thought Charest was enjoys a degree of freedom from speculated, “If Mr. Dumont holds the shooting himself in the foot, and national authority, and it is usually balance of power for either a PQ or the results of [the] election have defined by geography and/or validated that perception. the presence of an ethnic What is the role of the state in Tétû thinks Quebecers are minority. Around the world society, in the economy, in our daily ready to listen to something there are autonomous lives? How do we balance demands new instead of the same old cities (for example, Buenos for security with the cry for freedom, should-we-stay-or-should-we-go Aires in Argentina, Tashkent discussion. The ADQ’s refusal to in Uzbekistan), autonomous on political, military and economic get mixed up in that debate provinces (such as all six levels? How do we keep up with the opens the door to a different provinces of Madagascar) and galloping pace of technology and level of debate, one which autonomous regions (Inner the changes it brings to the way we much of the rest of the world Mongolia in China and the has been indulging in since the Tripura tribal areas of India are communicate, trade and relate to late 1970s. What is the role of but two examples). Here in one another? These are the big the state in society, in the econ- Canada, Dumont has not fully questions of the 20th and 21st omy, in our daily lives? How do fleshed out his vision of centuries, questions Quebec and the we balance demands for security Quebec autonomy other than with the cry for freedom, on to describe it as a state of “affir- rest of the country have failed to political, military and economic mation without separation.” grapple with because our leaders levels? How do we keep up with Dumont’s political evolu- were too busy trying to prevent the the galloping pace of technolo- tion and current ambiguous country from breaking apart. gy and the changes it brings to stance are of concern to some the way we communicate, trade federalists in Quebec. Says John Liberal government, the pressures on and relate to one another? These are the Parisella, long-time Liberal insider and Mr. Harper’s ‘open’ (or ‘open cheque- big questions of the 20th and 21st cen- former chief of staff to Premier Robert book’) federalism will intensify to give turies, questions Quebec and the rest of Bourassa: more and more and more.” Following the country have failed to grapple with To a large extent Mario Dumont the election, National Post columnist because our leaders were too busy try- is a unique product of a modern Andrew Coyne wrote, “If, on the other ing to prevent the country from break- Quebec. He came through the hand, [Dumont] pushes his undefin- ing apart. Liberal Party, which has been able, unworkable ‘autonomism’ model, the party associated with the demanding powers from Ottawa that umont himself has endorsed a re- modernization of Quebec on an cannot and should not be delivered, D examination of the role of the economic, social and political then Mr. Harper has a problem on his state. In 2005, he told L’Actualité mag- level. He left the Liberal Party hands — and so does the country.” azine, “An honest and healthy social on a clear confrontation between debate must take place. The Quebec Quebec and Canada. He flirted ut others believe that Dumont’s social-democrat model is failing more with sovereignty without ever B ambiguity could be a good thing every day. In the 1960s and 70s, we saying he’s a sovereignist…and for Canada. Frédéric Tétû, a philosophy innovated, the state was an accelerant he has been very clear that the professor at Collège François-Xavier- for young entrepreneurs.