“INDEPENDENCE is more alive than ever!” proclaimed Pierre Karl Péladeau as he accepted the leadership of the separatist Parti Québécois (PQ) on May 15th. That brought cheers from supporters, but only incurable optimists believed him. The previous leader resigned after Quebeckers ejected the PQ from power in Canada’s French-speaking province in 2014 in favour of the federalist Liberals. The Bloc Québécois, a kindred party that champions separatism in federal elections, lost official party status in the House of Commons after winning just four seats in 2011.
That is a startling comedown, both for the parties and for the cause. In the 1993 federal election, Quebec elected so many separatist MPs that they formed the official opposition. Two years later the province, then governed by the PQ, nearly succeeded in breaking away from Canada. In a referendum on independence 49.42% of Quebeckers voted yes. That was the separatists’ best showing. Since then they have lost power and influence. Britons watching the rise of the Scottish National Party (SNP), which won nearly all the Scottish seats in this month’s British election, will learn from Quebec that...
from The Economist: The Americas http://ift.tt/1c7gQGV
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