is a socially progressive political party in
Québec ,
Canada , that was created on
4 February 2006 in
Montréal . It was formed by the merger of the left-wing party
Union Des Forces Progressistes (UFP) and the alter-globalist political movement
Option Citoyenne led by
Françoise David .
The
Left Wing party – which also advocates
Quebec Sovereignty from Canada – hopes also to appeal to environmentalists, feminists and socialists. It hopes to cut into the support of the
Parti Québécois , the main political vehicle for Quebec sovereigntists.
There is no official colour or logo for the party yet. After more than an hour of discussion on the subject, the founding congress decided to postpone the vote on these questions until later, with a probable delay until the party's first National Council meeting in 3 months.
Françoise David and
Amir Khadir are the two spokespersons.
Danielle Maire has been elected secretary general and will act as party leader for the purposes of the ''Loi électorale du Québec''.
Alexa Conradi was elected president. However, as with its predecessors, Option Citoyenne and the Union de Forces Progressistes, there is no "party leader" in this new party. Instead, the duties generally entrusted to the leader are instead divided among the president, secretary general and male and female spokespeople.
Like the UFP before it, QS includes activists drawn from the
Rassemblement Pour L'alternative Progressiste (RAP), the
Parti De La Démocratie Socialiste (PDS), the
Parti Communiste Du Québec (PCQ), and the Quebec-based membership of the
International Socialists , as well as anarchist, radical and pacifist tendencies.
The aim of QS is in part to widen the appeal and organizational structure of the UFP, and to give a formal political voice to
Alter-globalist movements like Option Citoyenne. As such, QS aims to bring together progressive forces across the broad left wing of the Québec political spectrum.
The party's declaration of principles does not specifically endorse
Social Democracy ,
Socialism or
Communism , although it includes certain activists and tendencies that do.
Quebec's
Green Party , the
Parti Vert Du Québec , had tried to avoid running candidates in ridings where there was a UFP candidate, although it reserved the right to run anywhere it wants to (even ridings with a UFP candidate). Such an arrangement may continue with respect to Québec Solidaire.
QS presents itself as an alternative to the main three parties in Quebec: the Parti Québécois, the
Parti Libéral Du Québec , and the conservative
Action Démocratique Du Québec /Equipe
Mario Dumont , saying that all three are but different faces of the same
Right-wing ideology called
Neoliberalism .
The party does not yet have a political program or even a platform. However, it inherits the political content of the two merged political entities -- UFP and Option Citoyenne. At the party's founding, the congress unanimously adopted a document called the ''Déclaration de principes'' which lays out the principles and values that led the two organizations to merge. They are:
- Ecology: ''Nous sommes écologistes''
- Left-wing orientation: ''Nous sommes de gauche''
- Democracy: ''Nous sommes démocrates''
- Feminism: ''Nous sommes féministes''
- Alter-globalism: ''Nous sommes altermondialistes''
- Pluralism in Québec: ''Nous sommes d'un Québec pluriel''
- Québec sovereignty and solidarity: ''Nous sommes d'un Québec souverain et solidaire''
- Electoral engagement on the Québec political scene: ''Un autre parti pour un autre Québec!''
QS has not yet contested a general election. It has, however, fielded a candidate,
Manon Massé , in an April 10th by-election in
Sainte-Marie-Saint-Jacques . She received 22% of the vote, a substantial improvement over the UFP's
2003 showing in the riding, 6.5%.
