02) QUEBEC: THE PKP PHENOMENON

By Johan Boyden, Montreal

            In the early 1950s, Pierre Peladeau obtained a $1,500 loan from his mother – no small amount in those days – and turned around a failing publishing company. The son of a big timber capitalist who went broke in the ‘30s, Peladeau was a domineering businessman who brought British tabloid journalism to Quebec with its four S’s – Sexe, Sang, Sport et Spectacles (sex, blood, sport and superficial entertainment) – and built an empire controlling 40 per cent of Quebec media. Peladeau was politically a right-wing nationalist but kept in the shadows.

            Not so for his son. Pierre Peladeau junior joined a Maoist outfit in Quebec during the 1970s, when added “Karl” with a K to his name. But the young Peladeau’s life as a class traitor was not for long.

            The multi-millionaire, now known as “PKP,” was elected in May as the eighth leader of the Parti Québécois, winning the first round of voting with almost 60 per cent. PKP’s leadership signals more continuity than change but, of course, is somewhat divisive. While his wealth is by luck of birth, PKP is known as a successful capitalist, adding “respectability” to the nationalist project.

            But to workers he is a hard boss. Since joining daddy at Quebecor, “Citizen Peladeau” (i.e. Citizen Kane) broke the record for lockouts in labour disputes and union busting. He also once owned the Sun media chain, thoroughly reactionary in content but also staunchly Canadian chauvinist.

            If he has a more hands-on relationship with the editors of his Quebec publications, then he is directing through his Montreal and Quebec City tabloids a racist media campaign that for years has been trying to fuel hostility in the “reasonable accommodation” debate and inflame islamophobia. Their diatribes developed into the proposal for a “Quebec Charter of Values” – which would have effectively banned practising Muslim women from public sector employment.

            The Charter backfired for the PQ in the last election, contributing to their defeat, along with the adoption of austerity policies.

            These elements were not prominent in Peladeau’s prudent leadership campaign. A very “domesticated” PKP only committed to a softer charter. But showing his real face, he refused to change the labour code to restore anti-scab provisions requested by the trade unions.

            In fact, PKP made the grand tour from right to left – “Pelagaugauche” – of the PQ’s broad nationalist tent. He rallied his party, demoralized after the 2014 Liberal landslide, with a bold call beyond just “sovereignty” and instead clearly championed independence. Unity of all forces to win independence - first above all other causes - a project “neither right, nor left, but now.”

            It was a call that convinced singer Paul Piché and writer Jacques Lanctôt, whose leftist credentials date from the 1970s. The Steelworkers, while not supporting PKP, called on its members to support the PQ. André Parizeau`s group, ten years after acrimoniously parting from the Communist Party of Canada, also chose this moment to ditch Quebec Solidaire and demand “all-out for PKP.”

            But the more class or socially-oriented voices like the Parti Communiste du Quebec and, generally, the vast majority of Quebec Solidaire, are critical of this approach. For the Parti Communiste, Quebec sovereignty is best realized through an equal and voluntary confederal republic enshrined in a new constitution with English-speaking Canada, which must also guarantee Aboriginal national rights, and includes the right of separation. But supporting PKP shows how the independentiste project is, just like Canadian nationalism, a form of class collaboration says the PCQ.

            Polls show that some on the left will likely now vote QS and not PQ.  But PKP`s victory has created a wave of renewed interest and support, mainly rushing out of the right-wing populist Coalition Avenir Québec of François Legault (who pioneered the Charter concept), and not Philippe Couillard’s ruling Liberals.

            That party continues its calculated pro-austerity attack. The student movement is licking its wounds after this spring’s defeat, which continues with expulsions, injunctions and the threat of heavy-handed cops. Labour is planning strike action which will likely begin in the fall.

            The Liberals are sly, and trying to isolate labour. They just negotiated a package deal with the province’s doctors. Pharmacists may be next, leaving only the workers without an agreement and vulnerable to a government decree.

            But certainly all is not quiet on the united front. The tenant rights group FRAPRU recently hounded PM Harper and Couillard around town, and set up two tent occupations in Montreal for social housing. While quickly shut down, they pushed the issue into public debate. Mass public action with labour at the core is still the way forward.

            Johan Boyden is the central organizer of the Communist Party of Canada, and a member of the National Committee of the Parti Communiste du Quebec. Pierre Fontaine helped with this article.

(The above article is from the June 1-15, 2015, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading socialist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)