Quebec Province leader imagines adopting U.S. dollar

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QUEBEC – Picture this: It’s the 2005 premiers’ conference, and President Bernard Landry is pleased because Quebec’s Congress has just voted to scrap the loonie and adopt the U.S. dollar.

It’s not the twilight zone. It could be reality if democratic reforms change Quebec’s political landscape and make the province an American-style republic within Canada.

Rewind to March 2002.

With his Parti Quebecois in the doldrums and facing an uphill climb toward re-election, Landry – who still answers to premier, for now – has attempted to revive his sagging government by proposing a series of drastic economic and political changes.

In the last few weeks alone, he has mused about:

. Adopting the U.S. dollar throughout Canada.

. Allowing Quebec citizens to initiate referenda, like in neighboring Maine and other U.S. states, on any issue except sovereignty.

. Holding a referendum on whether Ottawa should hand over more tax money to help provinces pay for health care.

. Eliminating the British parliamentary system to make Quebec the first republican province in Canada, with proportional representation, nonelected ministers and a directly elected premier or president.

Some see the moves as an attempt to get Quebecers excited about Landry’s government, which was elected in 1998 and must hold a vote no later than next fall.

Recent polls showed the PQ trailing by around 10 points and the independence movement barely cracking the 40 percent support mark.

Others suggest the PQ has abandoned hopes of winning a referendum anytime soon and is looking for ways to slowly loosen ties with Canada.

One political observer says the issue dates to 1760, when the British won control of New France.

“It’s certainly an old obsession of the sovereignty movement – to erase 200, 250 years of history,” said Louis Massicotte, a political scientist at the University of Montreal.

“They feel, ‘We had a rough break in 1760 and have been under the British system ever since, so we must eliminate this foreign influence.'”

Since the late 1830s, Quebec nationalists have often turned to the United States for inspiration whenever they feel stuck inside Canada, says another observer.

“That’s an old trend and it’s naive,” said Christian Dufour, a political scientist at Montreal’s National School of Public Administration.

“Canada has many faults, but so does the United States. There’s this illusion about the United States, but they don’t have the best democracy in the world. Why this idealization? It’s absurd.”

Both observers disagree with the idea of a republican legislature, fearing it would weaken Quebec’s voice within Canada and render the provincial government impotent during times when the opposition controls the Legislature.

For example, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, was saddled during his time in office with a hostile Republican Congress.

Besides, Quebec’s political culture is too deeply steeped in the British tradition, which creates powerful governments whose members vote along party lines, Massicotte said.

“The Americans have a very different mentality than the Brits, than Canada – and even the Parti Quebecois, might I add. To Americans, government is a public danger and it must be warded off by numerous checks and balances,” he said.

“The British system allows for strong governments hoping to make ambitious changes in a society.”

A Quebec government committee is studying Democratic reform. The group will issue a preliminary report next month, then hold public consultations, the provincial government announced last week.

Jean-Pierre Charbonneau, the Cabinet minister leading the committee, said a new political system could be in place “within three or four years.”

Few expect the government to achieve such sweeping changes.

“This is part of a frenzy of activity that doesn’t have any major chance of success,” Dufour said.

“The government feels threatened and is tempted to be hyperactive, to launch project after project. I don’t think it’s very wise.

“Our political system favors change and there’s a bit of weariness – the PQ has been in power for two terms, there was a referendum, three premiers.”

It’s equally hard to imagine a PQ government introducing proportional representation because it would handicap the party.

To get elected under the present system, the Liberals must win the popular vote by at least 5 percentage points because their supporters are heavily concentrated in a small number of ridings, or districts, around Montreal.

In 1998, the Liberals were trounced in the final seat count despite narrowly winning the popular vote.

“The current system is a winning condition for the Parti Quebecois and it’s in their best interests to keep it,” Massicotte said.