At a time when the people of Québec have been repeatedly demonized in English Canada for being more susceptible to racism and Islamophobia, it is critical to remember how deep class politics runs in Québec. The fight for decent wages and working conditions is part and parcel of the “trampoline” of resistance to the capitalist agenda in Québec and the scapegoating politics of those who benefit from exploitation and racism.

Quebec’s broad party of the left, Québec solidaire (QS), will open a four-day congress on May 19 in Montréal. The delegates face a challenging agenda. It includes the final stage of adoption of the party’s detailed program, a process begun eight years ago; discussion of possible alliances with other parties and some social movements including a proposed fusion with another pro-independence party, Option nationale; and renewal of the party’s top leadership.

So Canada celebrates two national holidays: the United Kingdom’s and the one called Canada Day, referring to “Confederation,” on July 1. Neither has any relation to its independence. Canada does not celebrate the date of its accession to independence, which legally occurred on December 11, 1931 through the adoption of a British law called the Statute of Westminster. Why?

But regardless of the improvements that could be made, the simple fact of implementing a guaranteed minimum income could transform Quebec’s political imagination. Once the principle of such a program is established, it would eliminate the stigmatization of recipients of social assistance and even of “spoiled” students. Everyone will be, symbolically, on equal socioeconomic footing.

As many workers navigate the formal structures of their unions to push for greater militancy, general meetings are being organized regularly for member locals to determine what to do in the face of back-to-work legislation.

Will the hardline neoliberalism advocated by the new empire dare to show itself more human, more understanding toward Greece, if only out of fear of pushing it into the arms of Putin? Or will Syriza put enough water in its wine to lose its soul, and quite probably the next elections?”

Paul Cliche presents his analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of each of these experiences, and discusses in particular detail the lengthy process that led to the founding of Québec solidaire, which currently has three members elected to the Quebec National Assembly.

It’s an evening like any other. The first item on the Téléjournal is about the controversial Cacouna oil port project. The journalist speaks to citizens in favour of and opposed to the project. Then the spokesperson for TransCanada, the project’s sponsor, appears onscreen.

The election of a Liberal majority government has been widely interpreted as a major victory for the federal regime and quite possibly the death knell of the fifty-year-old mass movement for Quebec independence, but what do things actually look like for the socialist Left in Québec?

In many respects, nothing has changed following the April 7 Québec elections. Big business remains in power, only its colour has altered from light blue to a Liberal shade of red.