Will the Parti Québécois win derail the dreadful free trade deal with Europe championed by (soon-to-be former) premier Jean Charest and the Liberals? Maybe. While the PQ is “in favour of free trade”, the Globe and Mail has reported, “What makes free trade with Canada worthwhile for the Europeans is access to government procurement contracts at the provincial and municipal levels – tenders for subway systems, power plants and so on. But (soon-to-be premier Pauline) Marois has said a PQ government wants to favour Quebec companies in public tendering, and since that strikes at the heart of the deal, it could be a big obstacle.” Congratulations to our Québec allies (especially the students!) for bringing down a government (that needed to be brought down), and here’s to progressives making the most of the opportunities for the most social change possible given it appears this will be a minority government.
