The proposed Charter of Québec Values is the response of the Parti Québécois to the decline of the party’s popularity to its lowest level since the minority government was elected one year ago.

The worst aspect of the Quebec’s Charter debate is the smug, self-righteous, paternalist, finger wagging of English Canada and the English media in Quebec. Canadians don’t realize that they live in a glass house and throwing stones can be dangerous. Self-examination and self-criticism might show that English Canada is a major part of the problem.

In recent years, some residents of Lac Megantic have repeatedly put forward the view that the operation of the former CPR mainline linking Montreal with St. John New Brunswick through the center of the town is unsafe. Until July 6 of this year, it would appear that this view was mistaken, at least in the eyes of the business and political communities. Both chose to dismiss the claim as ill informed.

Some important decisions were made by more than 600 delegates at the Ninth Congress of Québec Solidaire. This was the largest congress to date for this party, founded in 2006, which doubled its membership to 14,000 during the past year in the wake of the student upsurge.

Paul Rose, Quebec sovereigntist and socialist, died March 14 in Montréal, following a stroke. He was 69. Notorious for his participation in the 1970 kidnapping and death of a Quebec cabinet minister, for which he spent 13 years in prison, Rose went on to become a trade union activist, the leader of the Parti pour la démocratie socialiste (PDS) — formerly the Quebec wing of the New Democratic Party — and most recently a founder of the Union des forces progressistes (UFP), which became today’s Québec solidaire.

Following a meeting with Quebec premier Pauline Marois, the ASSÉ, the militant wing of the Quebec student movement, announced February 13 that it will boycott the Summit on post-secondary education that the Parti québécois government is holding later this month.

‘The movement launched some seismic waves, their full impact yet unclear’

Quebec student leader Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois was convicted November 1 of contempt of court for publicly criticizing a court injunction issued during last spring’s student strike. The injunction ordered the strikers to allow dissident students who opposed the strike to attend classes.

The strength and determination of Québec’s student movement against tuition fee hikes can only be accounted for by a number of factors that have contributed to radicalizing the protest and politicizing the conflict. The movement has taken on the scope and scale it has due to a deep feeling of discontent that has been building for some time within Québec society.

The defeat of the Charest Liberals after more than nine years in power can only be welcomed. It was past time for Quebecers to say good riddance to an anti-democratic, environmentally hostile government ever ready to accommodate the demands of transnational capital. Overall, however, the 2012 election is far from a good news story.