General

There’s room for everyone on the NDP bandwagon

Holy cow, Gilles Duceppe’s gonna be in a foul mood when he sees this: in an open letter sent to La Presse, two former Bloc Québécois operatives are calling on their fellow sovereigntists to vote NDP on Monday. Maxime Bellerose, a former riding association president, and Benoît Demuy, who worked as a staffer in former Bloc MP Réal Ménard’s office, write Quebecers would be foolish to not hop on the social democratic bandwagon Jack Layton hopes to lead all the way to Ottawa.

“For the first time in our political lives, social democracy is knocking on Parliament’s door! It would be a shame if Quebecers did not take advantage of this opportunity to send to Ottawa MPs who loudly and proudly share Quebec’s values of justice and cooperation,” argues the pair, who say they’re both still members of the Bloc Québécois.

“We are still and will remain profoundly convinced that sovereignty is the best way for Quebec and its people to continue its development,” they add. “But as is widely said, the sovereignty of Quebec will be achieved in Quebec and not in Ottawa. Until then, our fellow citizens must live under the Canadian federal regime, whether they like it or not… In the absence of a referendum victory, voting NDP is now the way to end the cycle of Conservative minority governments.”

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