Quebec's Early Election May Well Change the National Political Situation

 

Nineteen months after they were ousted from power, the Liberals in Quebec will form the province's next majority government. The election itself, called early by the PQ with majority hopes in sight, was a gamble from the start.

The Liberals took 70 seats in the 125 seat National Assembly, the Parti Québécois 30, the Coalition Avenir Québec 22 and Québec Solidaire three. The Liberals entered this election campaign as the official opposition, but battled back from a public backlash and integrity questions.

It was a clear message from Quebec voters that economic stability was more important than lingering questions about the party's integrity. And, that the population didn't want the divisive politics that emerged as a result of the PQ's proposed secular values charter. Capitalizing on PQ missteps around the referendum and cultural issues, the former neurosurgeon Couillard (who once worked as a health minister for five years alongside the environment minister Tom Mulcair and also once served on the Security Intelligence Review Committee) and his team convinced Quebecers that the “vraies affaires,” or real issues, that mattered most to the province were the economy and jobs.

Is Quebec separatism dead? CBC's At Issue panel — Andrew Coyne, Chantal Hébert and Bruce Anderson — agree that it's barely breathing. "It's probably the most crushing blow to the sovereignty movement and the Parti Québécois since they lost the first referendum in 1980 by a margin of 60-40," Hébert told CBC's chief correspondent Peter Mansbridge in the wake of the PQ's historic defeat Monday night. Coyne noted that the Parti Québécois's popular vote total was its worst showing ever.

With the rise of Liberals in Quebec, the national political pattern will become more favorable to the Liberals. If NDP cannot hold together the opposition power, the Liberals may become a black horse.

                                                                        (Summarized by CCFTCC)

                                               魁北克提前竞选或可改变全国政局

从权利舞台下台十九个月后，自由党在魁北克省将形成全省下一个多数党政府。被认为目前胜数在握的魁党要求提前进行的选举，从一开始就是一场赌博。 

自由党占据了国民议会125个议席中的70个席位，魁党30个，魁北克未来联盟22个，魁北克团结工会三个。自由党作为反对党进入这次竞选，但是经历过公众质询和道德问题讨论后进行了反击。 

这是来自魁北克选民的一个明确信息，经济稳定性较挥之不去的党的诚信问题更为重要。并且，人们不想就这样成就了魁党提出的世俗价值观宪章所造成的分裂政治。凭借在公投和文化问题上魁党的失误，前神经外科医生库里埃(曾作为卫生厅长与当时的环境厅长汤姆·穆尔凯尔共事并任职国家安全技术检查委员会）和他的团队相信魁北克人认为，真正要紧的问题是全省的经济和就业。 

是魁北克分离主义死了吗？加拿大广播公司在发行的辩论团队 - 安德鲁·柯尼，尚塔尔赫伯特和布鲁斯·安德森 - 同意，它几乎没有了呼吸。 “这可能是自他们以60－40失去了在1980年第一次公投通过后的对主权运动和魁党最毁灭性的打击。”赫伯特在魁党周一晚历史性的失败之后告诉加拿大广播公司首席记者彼得曼斯布里奇。柯尼指出，魁党的普选票总数是它历史以来的最差表现。 

由于自由党在魁北克省的崛起，国家的政治格局将变得更加有利于自由党。如果新民党不能将反对派抱在一起的话，自由党可能成为一匹黑马。

                                                 （由加华翻译与公证公司汇总）