What the PQ fails to understand is that the continual sparring with the federal government and defiant support of succession, regardless of a demonstrated lack of public support for separation, creates an unstable environment for investors, who are in a position to strengthen the quality of life for all residents of Quebec. Here is to hoping cooler heads prevail.
While I disagree with many aspects of the Parti Québécois' current platform, if elected, the PQ has stated that it would essentially abolish the asbestos industry in Quebec. No other G8 country currently mines and exports this known cancer-causing agent. While Quebecers may be in for a rough ride on sovereignty, language and identity issues, this is one facet of the next would-be government that should have us all breathing a little easier.
In the election, the xenophobic comments and party promises such as banning religious symbols among public service workers all say, very clearly, that to truly be a Quebecer, you must be Francophone, white and Catholic. Bonus points if your family descended from the Filles du Roi. This is textbook intolerance and xenophobia.
The Parti Québécois (PQ) have unveiled some disconcerting aspects of their would-be mandate: all overt religious symbols would be banned from public institutions... except for Catholic religious symbols. In addition to lengthy and costly constitutional battles with Ottawa, certain Quebecers can now be expected to have their basic civil liberties trampled on in order to appease an increasingly intolerant voting population. The PQ are once again marginalizing a segment of the Quebec population because they are not seen as being an important fabric of Quebec's so-called distinct society. What I find truly alarming, however, is that the PQ is poised to form the next government. Vive le Québec libre indeed.