editorial September 26, 1989 Northwestern Quebec turnsto the PQ

Still, that didn’t stop voters in two of the area’s three provincial ridings from sending Parti Quebecois candidates to the provincial legislature in Quebec City as a result of the Sept 25 election.

But those who see returns from northwestern Quebec as an indication that the province’s key mining area is a hotbed of separatism would be disappointed. The PQ’s devotion to the goal of a separate Quebec was almost a non-issue. In these northern ridings — unlike urban ridings — it is the man that is elected much more than the party or its platform. What’s more, when the separatism issue is set aside, many see the PQ, not the Liberals, as the party to have championed the views of the mining industry. Finally, for those who didn’t want to vote Liberal, what choice was there?

Probably the most closely watched election race in northwestern Quebec centred on the Abitibi-Est riding where incumbent Liberal Raymond Savoie was facing a stiff challenge from Pequiste Andre Pelletier. Savoie, the government ‘s cabinet minister responsible for mines and for native affairs, won with a handy 2,300-vote plurality — a wider margin than the one he enjoyed in the 1985 election. But before winning his re-election, Savoie had quite a scare from Pelletier midway through the campaign when public support in the area for Savoie and the Liberals was far from assured.

Savoie, a well-liked lawyer from Val d’Or, is not perceived as a real powerhouse in the provincial cabinet and isn’t seen as a terribly strong advocate for the mining industry’s concerns. When the PCB fiasco was at its zenith during the campaign, Savoie looked like a man who could have been beaten. As it turned out, he was the only Liberal from the three ridings to be elected.

On the other hand, PQ leader Jacques Parizeau is the man who pioneered both the flow-through investment scheme in Quebec (indeed, in Canada) and the Quebec Stock Savings Plan. Both of those fiscal measures were instrumental in the revival of Quebec’s junior mining sector during the early- and mid-1980s. As a result, the mining fraternity has somewhat of a soft spot for Parizeau and the PQ.

That appeal, plus the personal appeal of candidate Francois Gendron (“everybody knows Gendron,” says one mining executive in the riding), allowed the PQ to retain its Abitibi-Ouest seat with a greater plurality than Savoie enjoyed — 8,200 votes, or more than double what the Liberal candidate could muster.

And in Rouyn-Noranda-Temiscamingue, the PQ was able to steal a seat from the Liberals with Remy Trudel, a former NDP candidate, ousting incumbent Gilles Baril by a slim 135-vote margin.

Province-wide, the Liberals gained a handy majority of 92 compared with 29 for the PQ and four for the newly formed Equality Party, but their support is down markedly from 1985. The Liberals won 50% of the popular vote, but the PQ won a surprisingly solid 40%.

And, while disenchanted anglophone Quebecers were unable to topple Bourassa and his hated language law, Bill 178, they did manage to elect four Equality Party members. In fact, the ground that Robert Bourassa’s Liberals lost was due largely to the anglophone votes it lost; support from the francophone population remained fairly solid.

Northwestern Quebec shows just how tough a job the Liberals have ahead of them. They must win back anglophone support without playing into the hands of an obviously strong separatist sentiment. At the same time, ridings like those in northwestern Quebec demand a sound economic policy that recognizes their special concerns. They care little for party ideology. PQ or Liberal, what is important is a government that recognizes the importance of a stable mining industry.

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